


More Than Just A Ring

by Fanfic_or_bust



Category: Big Brother RPF, Zankie Fandom
Genre: M/M, Marriage, proposal, zankie fanfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-04
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-03-16 09:22:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 39,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3482927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fanfic_or_bust/pseuds/Fanfic_or_bust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zach and Frankie had been dancing around the topic of marriage for a while now. They both wanted it but both were scared to make a move. Well, Frankie is done waiting. He wants to plan the most perfect wedding proposal that Zach could ever dream of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A brand new zankie fanfic! the concept and story was developed @loving-teenage-fandoms (on tumblr, @JenPrescott16 on twitter) and I wrote it and fleshed it out.
> 
> We are both really happy with this and we hope you love it and want more! Please leave comments and kudos if you enjoyed it! :)

Frankie felt Zach squeeze his hand as they pulled up to the familiar white building, currently lit up from the outside as the late summer sky began to darken. The red awnings read ‘La Brochette’, and he smiled at the warmth and familiarity. This was he and Zach’s special place. They tried to come here once every month, if time, work, and life allowed. It had been the location of some of the most important nights of their year and a half together. It was sitting at one of those elegant white tables, the room lit by candles and chandeliers, that they had discussed moving in together, that they had decided to run the Amazing Race together, that Frankie had broken the news about his 2 month stint in L.A. as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance.

Good or bad, this was always where they seemed to break important news to each other, and tonight Frankie had insisted on steak instead of sushi for that exact reason. Tonight was the first step towards Frankie’s ultimate goal. The thing that kept him up at night, that shaped his dreams, that filled his heart. Marrying Zach. For months it had been all he could think of, though he wasn’t letting Zach know that. He had to make it perfect. He knew Zach was his forever. He knew this was going to be the only one. You didn’t just get on your knee at a steak restaurant on a Tuesday. You didn’t just do it on a whim.

Frankie had to plan. It had to be extravagant. Perfect. Exceptional. So tonight, instead of proposing (though he was ready and willing to marry Zach at the drop of a hat) Frankie needed to plant the seeds to put his plan into motion. Tonight’s mission: Get Zach to agree to go to Florida. Who ever would have thought that would be so hard?

“Thank you, Miguel.” Frankie smiled to their driver as he held the door open and Frankie slid out.

“Thanks, Miggie.” Zach echoed, smiling widely in the way Frankie adored. Miguel had been driving for them while they were in New York for the past year and he had sort of become an unofficial member of the family. Sometimes it was still surreal for Frankie, that this was his life. It seemed unfair, he was so lucky. He had the man of his dreams and right now his biggest worry was how to propose to him in the most perfect way possible. He had a sister who hadn’t left the charts since he and Zach were in the big brother house two summers ago. And through some amazingly well placed investments with his inheritance money, they never had to worry about money again. As a result, they now had a beautiful apartment on 5th Avenue that they shared with their dogs Tiger and Lupin, and Miguel to drive them around any time they needed.

Frankie tugged on Zach’s hand to pull him closer so he could put his arm around his waist and Zach dipped down to kiss him sweetly on the cheek and wrapped his own arm around Frankie’s shoulders. Then, smiling at Frankie he gestured to the door. “Shall we? It’s hot as shit out here, if I wanted to sweat like this I’d have stayed in Florida.” He moaned, and Frankie giggled a little and held the door open for Zach who stepped through.

“Come on, Florida isn’t that bad.” Frankie said, laughing, and Zach turned to him to give an exaggerated look of disgust.

“Are you serious? Florida is the worst. THE WORST. I can’t believe I ever thought I’d never leave.”

“We have family there!” Frankie said in a teasing, mock shocked voice, that he was putting on in a desperate effort not to show is true dismay. He had brought Zach here to talk him into a trip there, and they weren’t even seated yet and he was already shooting down the idea? This was not going well.

“Yeah, they’re alright I guess.” Zach deadpanned, holding back his own smile until he saw Frankie laugh.

“Watch it, mister. My Nonna is a saint!” Frankie pointed at him as they walked by the long and elegant tables, draped with pristine white table cloths. They were being led upstairs to a private booth in the balcony room. Zach’s eyes twinkled with mirth as he caught Frankie’s gaze and he held out his hand so Frankie could take it, then pulled him tight next to him as they walked up the stairs. He leaned over to give Frankie a quick peck on the cheek.

“You’re right, she is. I’m sorry. I just love it here. We’re happy here. Everything is perfect.” Zach sighed in utter contentment as they were led to their booth, like nothing in the world was wrong. They sat down on opposite sides so they could play footsies and stare into each other’s eyes. Frankie tried not to let his frustrations show, because if his plan was going to work, the trip had to seem casual and not important. Because lately, Zach has been like a dog with a bone over the whole marriage idea. Frankie was having to play seriously dumb to avoid ruining his surprise, and he was sure that Zach’s radar was up and he’d smell a proposal coming a mile away.

“But we haven’t been back there in almost a year, don’t you think it’s time?” Frankie said in what he hoped was a casual tone. Zach twisted his face like the idea was gross.

“Babe, it’s July. It’s like a wet armpit in Florida right now. Maybe I’ll go in the winter, for Hanukkah. Maybe. But it’s hot enough here right now, why would you want to go to Florida? Do you know what the humidity level was there today? Babe, my hair!” He whined and Frankie couldn’t help giggling, even if he was secretly groaning on the inside. Zach and his hair. The other love of his life. Frankie dramatically rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, but it would be nice to see the family. And it’s going to be pretty humid here for the next few weeks, too.” Zach looked skeptical at this.

“Not on the same level. Babe, let’s just fly them here like we always do. That’s a way better idea. Then we can go in December for Hannukah.” Zach reasoned, and Frankie didn’t really have any good argument for why not and it was starting to fluster him. He realized he had to come up with something to say, however, and it couldn’t be negative or another argument for Florida or Zach would get suspicious.

“Sure babe, that sounds fine. I just miss Nonna and your folks and Peyton…”

“We’ll fly ‘em up, it’ll be a party! I’m actually really excited. We should get planning.” Zach smiled and Frankie forced himself to smile too. Great. How was this getting away from him so quickly? Luckily, the waitress came a minute later and even Frankie was taken aback at how hot she was. Blonde, thin but with curves and maybe just a little too much cleavage showing. She took their orders for their meals and as she walked away Frankie caught Zach watching her and he suddenly had an idea. He kicked Zach under the table and his head snapped around to look at Frankie, a hang-dog guilty look written all over his face.

“See something you like?” Frankie asked sharply and Zach’s cheeks turned a bright red in embarrassment.

“Sorry babe, I didn’t mean to…” He said and Frankie narrowed his eyes. As annoyed and jealous as he usually got when he caught Zach checking out girls (and guys), the timing was kind of perfect. It gave Frankie a leverage to swing the evening back around into his control. And when was he in the most control? During sex. After sex. Any time, if sex was involved. When he and Zach became intimate, he would turn from loud and boisterous to a completely soft little puppy almost immediately, and Zach loved giving Frankie full control. He was like putty in Frankie’s hands. If Frankie could just put him in the right mood, he could get him to agree to anything.

Frankie’s narrowed eyes became predatory and Zach’s widened just a fraction and Frankie saw the shock there. “Are you looking at some girl’s ass while you’re at OUR favourite romantic restaurant, with ME?” Frankie said quietly and threateningly, but he made sure there was a levity there so Zach didn’t think he was really mad.

“I, uhhh…” Zach said, his dimples showing as he held back a smile and dramatically moved his eyes around the room, looking at anything but Frankie. As Zach did this, Frankie carefully slipped his foot out of his shoe and reached under the table and hooked his foot and toes around his ankle, ever so slowly rising higher. Zach’s eyes snapped to Frankie’s immediately.

“Now how am I going to get your mind back focused on me, where it should be?” Frankie mused, speaking in a low sultry tones as his foot meandered and teased on its way up to its target. As his foot moved up his leg, Frankie saw Zach getting more and more flustered before his eyes.

“Babe, I’m sorry. Frankie, BABE, we’re in a restaurant!” Zach frantically whispered as he tried to control his reaction as Frankie’s foot hit its mark and he began massaging him through his pants with his surprisingly agile toes. Zach groaned and Frankie smiled triumphantly.

“You’re mine, aren’t you? You want to be mine?” Frankie asked, eating up Zach’s flustered blush. When he didn’t answer fast enough Frankie upped his tempo as he rubbed back and forth on the now hardening erection in Zach’s pants. Luckily this was all hidden by the long table cloth, their booth already private to begin with.

“You… You know I do, I am.” Zach practically panted. Frankie smiled and nodded. Zach was so easy sometimes, he wished every problem could be fixed like this.

“Then shouldn’t I be able to touch what’s mine whenever I please? Especially when he makes me jealous by checking out our waitress’s ass at our special restaurant?” He practically purred, enjoying the sight of the man he loved falling apart at his touch. Even after all this time, they were still ravenous for each other.

“Yeah, but…” Zach managed to say, but his words fell away as he shuddered in pleasure and then disappointment as Frankie pulled his foot away and slipped it back into his shoe.

“Let’s have a quickie. Before the food gets here.” Frankie whispered, leaning forward so Zach could hear and looking around to see if they were gaining any attention. Everyone seemed to be enjoying their own meals, they seemed safe for now. Zach’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open and Frankie could see him wanting to, but also wanting to protest.

In the end, he settled on protesting. “Frankiiiiieeee, this is a restaurant! We can’t!” Zach whined and Frankie rolled his eyes and smiled at Zach’s innocence and nervousness.

“We used to have quickies in bathrooms all the time.” Frankie goaded, and Zach shook his head, not wanting to give in.

“At clubs! This is a FANCY restaurant! Frankie, we can’t.” Zach was full on whining now, and shifting in his seat. “…Can we?” He finally followed up, causing Frankie to smirk. His lips curled up to show his white teeth (now even whiter after a year of upping his oral hygiene game to Zach’s level) and leaned forward.

“Sure we can.” Frankie smirked mischievously, glad he almost had Zach hooked. Frankie cursed the waitresses’ timing when she came a moment later with their Cabernet Sauvignon. When she leaned over the table to get Zach’s wine glass, Frankie’s eyes locked onto Zach’s and raised an eyebrow. Zach blushed and looked determinedly away from the waitress, being very obvious in his attempts to not check her out. Frankie smiled, and deciding to be a little bad, he took the opportunity to slip off his shoe again. Despite the waitress, he slowly caressed Zach’s now very hard erection with his foot. He smiled as he saw the look of anger and arousal on Zach’s face as he struggled to keep his expression neutral.

“Please let me know if there is anything I can get for you, your starters shouldn’t take too long.” The waitress smiled, oblivious to what was happening under the table.

“Thank you.” Frankie said smoothly, smiling up at the girl. She smiled back, turned, and walked away. When she was out of earshot, Zach let out a groan and then leaned forward over the table.

“What the hell Frankie? We can’t, not here.” Zach frantically whispered, obviously now very sexually flustered, but Frankie just smiled. He knew Zach wasn’t really mad, or at least not so mad that a good fuck wouldn’t make it better.

“I’m sorry baby.” Frankie said softly. “I just want you so bad and I was jealous.” Frankie said, playing it up. He thought he saw Zach thaw a little at that, he never wanted to make Frankie feel bad. “Kiss and make up?” Frankie suggested brightly and grinned as he leaned over the table and pursed his lips expectantly.

“It’s okay.” Zach cooed and leaned forward for what he thought was going to be a short peck. But the second his lips touched Frankie’s, Frankie pulled him closer for a short but sensual kiss that was so subtly sexual that it made his toes curl with tension. His lips moved expertly against Zach’s, and he only just barely used his tongue, licking at Zach’s full lips, very lightly nipping the bottom one before he slowly pulled away and paused to look Zach in the eye, one corner of his mouth lightly raised as he gave Zach his best flirty ‘fuck me’ look.

For a moment, Zach seemed glazed over. But a second later he was shaking his head and furrowing his eyebrows and looking at Frankie angrily. “That’s it!” He whispered angrily. Then he was pulling the napkin off his lap and throwing it down on his seat and standing up dramatically. He slid out of the booth and stood at the end of the table, placing both hands widely on the surface and leaning over it to get close to Frankie. “You win! What else is new. Meet me in the bathroom in five minutes, and be subtle about it. If we get banned from our favourite restaurant, it’s YOUR fault.” He seemed angry but then it looked like he was thinking about something. He shook his head slightly and looked back at Frankie, his expression now tinged with amused curiosity. “What has gotten into you?”

“You, hopefully, in five minutes.” Frankie said coquettishly and the scowl returned to Zach’s face as he groaned and pointed sharply to Frankie.

“Five. Minutes.” He said, emphasizing each word. Then he turned and headed directly to the men’s room, and Frankie checked the time on his phone. While he waited he sipped his wine and checked his notifications and responded to a few texts, trying to will the minutes to pass faster. When he saw the fifth minute tick by, he casually rose, making sure to leave his phone on the table so the waitress knew he’d be back. He wasn’t worried about it being stolen in a place like this and he backed everything up to the cloud anyway.

Frankie made it to the washroom and was expecting to look for an occupied stall but he was met with a surprise when he opened the door. “Frankie, hey!” AJ greeted him warmly and Frankie stopped in his tracks. AJ was here? What was AJ doing here? And why was AJ here at this very moment, when he and Zach had like, no time at all?

“Hey AJ! It’s been a few weeks, how’s everything going?”

“Great! I just started with my firm. It’ll be a while before I get to do anything good I think, but you gotta start somewhere, pay your dues, you know?” Frankie smiled widely at AJ. When he spoke, his genuineness poured through every word. He was really just an all around great guy, he was glad that of all Zach’s old friends, that AJ had been located in NYC.

“Started from the bottom now you’re here—“ Zach added in, doing his best Drake impression, and both AJ and Frankie rolled their eyes dramatically before laughing. Zach was so embarrassing sometimes.

“I’m sure you’ll be partner in no time.” Frankie smiled, pausing and looking thoughtful. “That’s a thing, right? For lawyers? You try to become partner?” He followed up and AJ laughed.

“Yes, Frankie.” He said and Frankie nodded.

“I don’t have many lawyer friends, but I have seen ‘Legally Blonde’ like, 20 times.” Frankie added, and Zach cracked up next to him, moving towards him and draping his arms around Frankie. He always got like that when Frankie made him laugh, for some reason it made him clingy. “So are you here on a date?” Frankie asked, suddenly wondering again why AJ was here.

“Uhh, yeah. Well I know you guys liked this place for your date nights, so I thought I’d give it a shot.” AJ said, rubbing the back of his head and looking around a little nervously. It was cute. Frankie smiled and held out a hand to put on his shoulder and he squeezed briefly before returning his hand to its place rubbing up and down Zach’s back.

“Awww, who is it? Why don’t we know about her?” Frankie asked.

“Yeah, bro, how do you get steak dinner-serious and I don’t even know about her?” Zach cut in, sounding a little wounded. AJ shifted a little.

“Well, we didn’t want to say anything until we knew we were serious. But tonight it’s been three months since we first, well, kissed---“ He was interrupted by a chorus of ‘awwwwww’s’ from Frankie and Zach and AJ blushed bashfully and continued. “It’s Lauren.” He added, looking at Frankie. Frankie gasped, his eyes wide.

“Strigs!?” Frankie clarified excitedly. When AJ nodded Frankie jumped up and down and pulled him into a hug. “Congratulations!” He squealed and Zach echoed him, hugging AJ when Frankie was done. Then Frankie realized that for three months he hadn’t known that his best friend had been dating his boyfriend’s best friend. “That bitch! She didn’t tell me! Is she here? I’m going to go find her.” Frankie said suddenly turning to go. Before he left, he turned to Zach to give him a kiss and he not so subtly rubbed teasingly at him through his pants. “I’ll be back at the table in a couple minutes, babe. We don’t have long.” He said, frowning a little and then turning and leaving the men’s room in search of his friend.

 

For a moment, Zach and AJ just stood there. Frankie always added so much life to a room that when he left, sometimes it was hard to know where to pick up. “So he wants to go to Florida and you don’t?” AJ asked, picking up their conversation from when Frankie came in. Zach nodded, trying to get his head back to the conversation. Damn Frankie, his hard on had started to go down and now it was back with a vengeance, and to make it worse, Zach was pretty sure AJ saw Frankie openly grope him. He was going to make Frankie pay for that later. It had been too long since he had topped, and Zach thought that fucking Frankie sounded really good after the sexual frustrations he had had to endure so far tonight. He really didn’t know what had come over Frankie.

“Yeah, I just don’t like it. Everything bad that has happened to us has happened when I was in Florida. And honestly, now that we can afford to fly the family to us whenever we want, I don’t know why we would want to go there, especially now. It’s just a feeling.” Zach shrugged.

“Just a feeling?” AJ asked skeptically.

“I guess that’s pretty stupid, but I just feel like everything is finally perfect in my life, Florida just seems… ominous.” Zach said, smiling in satisfaction as he found the perfect word to describe his feelings. “And it is so fucking hot there right now, man.” He added.

“Yeah, but I think you’ve gotta suck it up if Frankie wants to go. I mean, his Grandma’s there. You’ve dealt with enough Florida summers, you can handle a trip.” AJ said, his tone tough but practical. Now Zach found himself damning AJ for being so damn reasonable and responsible all the time. Like couldn’t he back up his bro for once, rather than always forcing Zach to take the higher road?

“I guess. You’re right. I just… I don’t know. I feel like if we go to Florida everything might change. It’s so weird.” Zach said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

“Maybe they’ll change for the better.” AJ suggested hopefully and now Zach was skeptical.

“Unlikely. Not in Florida. With my luck I’ll get bit by one of those dengue mosquitos, or a hurricane will hit or…”

“Ok, there have been, like, three documented cases of dengue in the States this year, stop basing your fears off of Facebook posts, and a hurricane isn’t going to magically appear the second you go down there. Go back and eat dinner, I have a hot date to return to.” AJ said, smiling, and Zach couldn’t help but return it.

“Thanks, man. I’m happy for you. Say hey to Strigs for me.” Zach said holding out his arm to slap a handshake with his friend before pulling him in for a one-armed bro hug.

“Thanks, Zach. Glad I saw you tonight. Hey, maybe Lauren and I could come down to Florida with you guys. Depends when you go, let me know.” AJ said, and Zach smiled. That would be fun, he’d have to talk to Frankie about it.

When AJ left the washroom and Zach was left alone, Zach realized how hard he still was. Fucking Frankie. He was going to pay for this later. But then Zach cursed himself because thoughts like that were only making him harder. He looked nervously towards to the bathroom stalls, and then quickly entered one and closed the door behind him. He’d be a few minutes late for Frankie, but that was his own damn fault.

A few minutes later Zach was feeling much better as he walked towards his and Frankie’s booth. As he walked towards him, his heart began to flutter. He loved looking at Frankie when he didn’t know he was looking. He was so beautiful, so masculine and yet so pretty. Even after two years, he still made Zach’s heart race whenever he’d see him after a time apart. As he approached, Frankie looked up and smiled widely as he saw Zach. “Hey babe, the soup just got here!” Frankie said and Zach struggled to restrain his own smile. He wanted to be mad at Frankie, at least playfully, and it would be ruined if he smiled.

 

 

Frankie smiled up at Zach as he approached. “Hey babe, the soup just got here!” Frankie said and giggled as he saw Zach holding back a laugh under a decidedly grumpy look on his face. Fuck, he was adorable. “Aww, is my baby upset?” Frankie asked in a teasing baby voice and Zach scowled.

“Frankiiieee, you got me all worked up and then you just left me hanging. I had to take care of myself in the bathroom, and right before I finished, some guy came in to piss. It was brutal.” He whined, trying to stay mad but Frankie knew he had a hard time staying mad when Frankie smiled at him like he was. “You’re going to pay for this later.” Zach threatened, but he was already smirking back at Frankie, who was innocently sipping from his soup spoon.

“I promise to take care of you.” Frankie said, winking. Zach smiled tightly, trying to hold it back. He was still trying to look grumpy. But then he seemingly decided to give it up and finally he smiled widely. “I love you so much.” Frankie said in response to the smile, the truth of the statement pouring from the bottom of his heart. He adored this man. Zach’s wide smile sweetened.

“I love you too, babe.” Zach breathed, then picked up his spoon and took a few sips of his soup. It was delicious, of course. Then he looked back at Frankie. “How do you do it? After all this time you just have to hint at sex and you get me hard. I was never like this before, not with girls.” Zach said, thinking out loud as usual. Frankie smirked and raised a single eyebrow at him and Zach blushed. “Fuck you.” He laughed.

“I’m just saying…” Frankie said, teasing. Zach blushed deeper.

“I like girls. I do!” Zach laughed, enjoying their old joke. Frankie laughed with him.

“I know you do, my hetero boyfriend loves his tits and ass.” Frankie drawled, his eyes twinkling.

“Don’t forget vagina.” Zach deadpanned, and Frankie nodded his head seriously, playing along.

“How could you ever forget vagina?” He asked, and they both broke down in giggles. Zach reached across the table and took Frankie’s hand, gently brushing his thumb back and forth across his knuckles. “I knew what you meant though. You still make me hornier than a teenager, every time I’m around you. Even still. It’s got to end sometime, doesn’t it? When is that going to end?” Frankie asked, and Zach smiled.

“Maybe never.” He said.

“Good, I hope not.” Frankie said, smiling softly, and they paused to finish their soup. A couple minutes later, Frankie looked up at Zach. “Why do you really not want to go to Florida? And don’t say your hair.” Frankie asked, trying to get to the root of the problem without tipping Zach off to the reason he couldn’t let it drop. That was the whole purpose of the evening, he had to keep at it. He watched as Zach decided whether or not to give him the real answer.

“My hair is a big part of my reluctance…” He said, smirking and peeking up at Frankie, checking to make sure he was smiling. When Frankie did, he continued. “But I don’t know, I just have this weird feeling. Everything is so perfect right now and I just feel like if we go there, something bad is going to happen. Or something big. I’d rather stay here where everything is great.” He said, and he seemed so serious in his worry that Frankie regarded him for a few moments. He considered soothing his worries, but his smile cracked and he decided to give Zach a polite clap.

“I should star you in my next play, you are so dramatic. Bravo, darling, bravo.” Frankie said, laughing, and Zach joined in after a moment.

“Okay, okay, whatever. Just book my flight. And pack my bag. And get me to the airport. And I guess then I’ll go.” Zach said, groaning a little dramatically and they both giggled. A minute later and their steaks arrived, both men smiling widely at the delicious meal set before them.

 

When they finished their food, Frankie suggested they go to the lounge bar around the corner that they often go to when they finish at La Brochette. “Sure, babe. I’ll text Miggie, tell him we’ll be later.” Zach replied, secretly glad Frankie had suggested that. There was still a little tension in the air and Zach wanted nothing more than a stiff drink right now. And then maybe a stiff something else a little later tonight.

An hour and three crantinis later, Zach and Frankie were both more than a little tipsy. They were giggling and cuddling in their booth, free from the eyes of the public, and they were grateful for the little bit of privacy. Their star had only gotten brighter over time since they’d gotten out of Big Brother in summer 2014, their stint on Amazing Race raising their public profile even more. Then Frankie had done So You Think You Can Dance and now he was getting stopped everywhere by fans. Zach was recognized as well, but more so when they were together. Separately, they were both famous (though Frankie more so), but together? Zankie was hotter than ever. It was nice to have the little luxuries that came with fame, like the ability to hide for a while in a private booth at a hot lounge.

Frankie excused himself to the bathroom, he giggled and said he needed to fix his makeup and hair, which Zach had scoffed at. “You look hot, babe.” He had insisted.

“Yeah, a hot mess, maybe! I’ll be right back. Order another drink, I won’t be long.” He had smiled and left a sweet kiss that seared Zach’s lips in Frankie’s absence even a minute later. Looking at his empty drink, Zach thought he would do as Frankie said and order another drink. He got up to go to the bar, but when he got there, there were a few guys sitting around him. Suddenly, Zach was very self conscious about ordering another crantini. He made a split second decision and made his order.

“I’ll take a scotch on the rocks. Double, and make it neat.” He said, feeling like it was maybe the most manly drink order he could make. He was pretty sure he had heard drinks ordered that way by manly guys like Frank Sinatra or Liam Neeson in movies. He wasn’t expecting the bar tender to laugh, however.

“Do you want it on the rocks, or neat?” He asked wryly and Zach was glad for the dim lighting because he felt his cheeks burn with blush.

“On the rocks.” Zach said, not really sure which one to pick. If he was being honest, he didn’t really know what ‘neat’ meant. A minute later he was carrying the glass of amber liquid and ice cubes back to his booth. When he was safely inside, he stared at the glass and decided to take an exploratory sniff, and then pulled back wincing as his nose burned a little. This was nowhere as good as a crantini.

But, Zach was a man. Deciding to act like one, he steeled himself and took half the drink in one go. And then he sputtered as he struggled to swallow the burning alcohol. This was good scotch, he was told, but apparently it all just tasted like liquid fire so Zach didn’t know how he was supposed to tell if it was good or not. Already he felt his brain swim. Shit. This was a lot stronger than a crantini, too.

Frankie was taking a little longer than Zach was expecting, so he pulled out his phone and started going through his ‘Frankie’ folder. In it he had all of his favourite pictures of Frankie. Only his absolute favourites went in. Right now the folder contained 413 photos. He had been keeping it since September 2014, though back then he had labelled the folder ‘2013 taxes’ so no one would open it if they accidentally saw his phone.

Zach decided to go through his folder in reverse chronological order, feeling a little nostalgic. He could tell he was drunk and he sighed like a lovesick puppy as he saw the bleach blonde and pink hairdo that Frankie had sported when they first fell in love. He scrolled through the photos sloppily, becoming more and more sappy as he went. He got to the screenshot he had taken of that accidental snap he had posted, the one where Frankie had danced to Ariana above him in his apartment, the now infamous snap where he had kinda, sorta, accidentally groped Frankie’s package before they had even come out in public as a couple.

Smiling, Zach searched Google for a blog that had a link to the full video. He watched it a couple times, smiling goofily at the screen before Frankie came back. When he did, Zach looked up at him and beamed. “I fucking love you so much, Frankie. I, I, jus’ fuckin’ love you baby.” He said, realizing he was slurring his words a little he grinned even more and looked apologetically at Frankie.

Frankie looked down at the glass of scotch and laughed, looking back up. “You weren’t here to order for me.” Zach said in explanation, shrugging. Frankie smiled and slid in close beside him, wrapping his arms around him and kissing him on the cheek. Zach felt the familiar warmth and fluttering feeling he still got every time Frankie would touch him. He was the luckiest bastard in the whole world. He wondered if that feeling would ever go away.

Then Frankie pulled back and looked at Zach expectantly. “So, how do I look?” Frankie said, making some model pose faces and Zach giggled.

“Make up on fleek, babe!” Frankie looked at him like he had three eyes and then broke down into giggles.

“No one says fleek anymore, Zach!” He laughed and Zach shrugged and without thinking took another drink, forgetting what was in the glass. A moment later he was coughing and choking and Frankie was leaning on the table he was laughing so hard. “I love when you drink scotch and you’re all dressed up! You remind me of Don Draper.” He said between giggle fits. Zach smiled, still coughing from his drink a little.

“That’s me, so—“ *cough* “—so smooth.” Zach said, and they both collapsed together.

“I think you’re drunk, baby.” Frankie said, patting Zach’s hair and kissing his cheek.

“I can neither co’firm, or deny that.” Zach said, smirking. Then Frankie looked down at his phone and saw the snap still playing on repeat.

“What are you watching?” Frankie asked, though Zach knew he knew exactly what he was watching.

“Handgate.” Zach said, smiling down at the video he had taken a year and a half ago. Frankie groaned and laughed and picked up the phone to watch the snap a few times.

“Uggghhh, that was hilarious. And how you tried to tell them it wasn’t your hand? I died. I still die.” Frankie said, smiling down at the shiny iphone 8 in his hand. Then suddenly, Zach had an idea. He took the phone from Frankie and switched it to selfie mode and held it out for a pic with Frankie. Frankie didn’t need any explanation or prompting, selfie was a language he spoke perfectly well. Zach twisted his face so his lips connected with the side of Frankie’s lips, and he looked up at the camera coyly. He inspected the picture, and as suspected, it was perfect. “What are you doing?” Frankie asked, smirking at Zach who was struggling a little with the new phone with drunk fingers.

“Hold on.” Zach said, smiling. He was posting the pic to instagram and twitter. He captioned the photo “Those weren’t my lips, I promise!” and posted it. Frankie smiled, hearing the notification ring on his own phone, he pulled it out and barked a laugh.

“Ha! And this one is just as believable as the last time you said it, babe!” And they were both giggling again until they were out of breath and collapsed against each other in their booth. Frankie sighed deeply and looked up at Zach. “I can’t wait to marry you.” He said, smiling serenely, his eyes widening when he had finished speaking, as if he didn’t mean to say that. But Zach’s heart leapt at the words.

“Wait, what did you just say?” Zach said, excitedly, sitting up and turning to look straight at Frankie. He had been pushing for marriage extremely subtly, but also extremely hard recently, and he hadn’t gotten Frankie to budge on the issue. He knew Frankie was a little drunk right now, but that wasn’t going to stop Zach from jumping all over this opportunity if he got a chance. He wanted to marry Frankie like he had never wanted anything before in his entire life. He would propose himself, but Frankie’s hesitance to marry had scared Zach off so far. Even now, he saw Frankie backing off, getting nervous. He didn’t mean to say what he said, Zach realized. But did that make it untrue?

“Oh, well I mean, someday. Right? Obviously we’ll get married. But we’re not ready for that yet, right babe?” Frankie asked, and Zach felt his heart sink in his chest. “Hah, yeah, babe. Don’t worry, that’s the farthest thing from my mind.” He lied, he hoped convincingly. But he was disappointed. He didn’t know why Frankie wasn’t ready to marry him, and he was trying to not let it hurt. He would marry Frankie tomorrow, if he’d let him. Today. Right now. But he didn’t want to push Frankie, so he let it drop. He pretended he was okay with it. He smiled and put his arm around Frankie, and forced himself to take the last swig of his drink. At least this time he was ready for it, and he didn’t even cough any of it up.

 

An hour later, Frankie helped a very inebriated Zach through the bar to the car. Miguel was waiting for them out front and helped Frankie immediately when he saw him struggling to get through the door. He was huge, very tall and strong, and he easily moved Zach into the vehicle. He had worked as a security/driver for Ariana and Frankie had scooped him up last year for himself. Ariana had been on a world tour and Miguel had to stay Stateside because of his young daughter. On nights like this especially, Frankie counted himself very lucky for circumstances working out as they did. As usual in Frankie’s life, everything seemed to happen for a reason.

He settled into the back seat next to Zach and Miguel started the car and headed towards their 5th avenue apartment. The evening had been good, overall. Frankie had gotten Zach to, begrudgingly at least, agree to go to Florida with him. He wasn’t happy about it, but that didn’t matter because when Frankie was done with his proposal, he would be happy. He and Zach had shared some wonderful laughs, and had a great time overall, but Frankie had ruined the mood when he let it slip that he couldn’t wait to marry Zach. What had he been thinking? Zach had instantly become excited and then very disappointed afterwards, no matter how hard he tried to cover it. He had gotten more drunk than he should have, and Frankie thought he might be to blame for that as well.

Zach had been quiet for a little while, but he was still awake. Frankie could see him, thinking. The expression on his face was a familiar one to Frankie. He had seen it going all the way back to the Big Brother house. His brain was working, hard. He was working himself up. Frankie decided to ignore it, though, because what could he do? He just pulled Zach in for a hug and kissed his head.

“AJ and Lauren better not walk down the aisle before we do.” Zach said suddenly and Frankie turned sharply to look at him. He held Zach’s face in his hand and made sure to connect with his glossy gaze.

“Zach, why would you even say that? They only just started dating. I seriously doubt they’re going to get married any time soon.” Frankie said reasonably, a little shocked that this was where Zach’s mind was going.

“Yeah, well, if they do, just know that I’ll be super pissed and I won’t ever talk to you again. Ever.” Zach replied in a drunken, childish tone. Frankie snorted a laugh, not sure how serious Zach was.

“Rose, calm down. I love you and I plan on marrying you someday, just not tomorrow.” Frankie said evenly, running his hand down Zach’s arm soothingly. He really wanted Zach to drop this, he could feel his patience running thin and he could see from the look on Zach’s face that he wasn’t going to leave it there.

“Why don’t you want to marry me!?” He asked, raising his drink-altered, anguished voice. Frankie caught Miguel’s eyes in the rear view mirror and gave him an apologetic look before turning to completely face Zach. He place his hands on Zach’s hands and squeezed them. “Zach, honey, I didn’t say that… okay, there’s no point in trying to reason with you when you’ve had this much to drink. Remember 54 Below?” Frankie asked as he saw Zach’s eyes glaze over a little. Zach twisted his face as he obviously was trying to recall, and then Frankie could see the lightbulb turn on.

“Yeah, but I wasn’t that drunk. You just smelled really good so I wanted to hug you. And kiss you. And love on you, the whole night. I couldn’t stop. You smelled like that store called… um, Lush? LUSH! YEAH THAT’S IT YOU SMELLED LIKE LUSH! I wasn’t drunk then, and I’m not too drunk now. So I think you owe me an apology.” Zach said, his voice suddenly haughty.

Frankie tried hard not to, but couldn’t help rolling his eyes hard. He was getting close to losing his patience with his hammered boyfriend, but couldn’t help smiling at the determined look on Zach’s face. “Ok Zach, I’m sorry. But you probably won’t remember any of this in the morning anyways.” Frankie said, smiling indulgently. Zach’s face had wiped clean as he spoke, now he looked at Frankie, puzzled.

“Wait, remember what?” He asked, confused. Frankie giggled and pulled him close for another hug and hair kiss.

“Exactly.” He murmured against Zach’s hair, and felt Zach’s breathing even out as he fell asleep under Frankie’s arm, curling into his body. As Zach slept, Frankie looked out the window at the city passing by but he didn’t really see. His mind was in another place. He was starting to feel a little guilty. He had gotten annoyed with Zach, but Zach had only been annoying because Frankie was lying to him and trying to manipulate him into going to Florida. He was lying about his feelings of marriage and it was all so he could do the proposal the way he wanted to? Was that selfish? Was the proposal more for him, or Zach? Frankie thought about that for several minutes before deciding that no, he was doing it for Zach.

His mind started reaching at memories, little snippets and thoughts and images of an obviously wedding-crazy Zach. Frankie wasn’t exactly sure when he started, but he thought it went all the way back to Lindsay’s wedding back in early October of 2015. Caleb’s quickie wedding last fall hadn’t helped either. The reason he was sure he was doing the right thing, is that Zach seemed like the epitome of an excited bride to be. He hoped that wasn’t offensive, but couldn’t think of a better comparison. He had caught him on a few occasions looking at youtube proposal videos. He seemed to like the extravagant ones. Flash mobs, surprises, things like that. Frankie had gone digging on their computer history and found some he had been watching. That’s where this whole idea had come from in the first place.

Frankie smiled at the memory and bent to kiss his sleeping head, petting him gently as they headed towards home. Zach was trying very hard to cover up his desire to get married, but up until tonight it had only been implied. Tonight he had put it all out on the line, and told Frankie he’d be mad if AJ and Lauren got married first. He knew he was drunk, but he also knew he was speaking from his heart. Frankie smiled again as he felt his heart swell. If there was any shadow of a doubt before, at least now he knew there was no chance that Zach would say no after all he was putting into this proposal.

Frankie leaned back in his seat and laid his head on the window and registered that they were getting closer to home. Just a few more minutes. He started sorting through his memories of Zach and weddings again. He remembered walking in on Zach paging through a copy of ‘Equally Wed’ magazine, and he had turned bright red as he noticed Frankie. “Ummmm, I accidentally took this from the dentist’s office… I’m gonna return it.” He had explained lamely, and it still made Frankie giggle.

Frankie then remembered using Zach’s laptop one day when his was out of battery, and opening his favourites. He had laughed when he saw the link labelled ‘Frankie Grande in short shorts’. “Really, Zach?” He had asked out loud, chuckling. He had teased him about that later, it had been fun. But that wasn’t the most interesting bookmark he found. Farther down the list he found a few labelled ‘wedding rings’, ‘wedding locations’, and ‘Best wedding Designers and Planners’. Frankie’s throat had gone dry and he had worried he had waited too long and Zach was going to beat him to the chase and propose first. And then he had realized what a ridiculous thing to worry about that was, and he looked up at Zach who was across the room. “I love you.” Frankie had said, causing Zach to look up from his phone and tilt his head a little, confused by the random confession of love, but he smiled sweetly.

“I love you too, babe. Forever.” He had said, and Frankie sighed at the warm memory.

A moment later, Frankie was shaken out of his reverie. The car was stopping, they were in front of their apartment. Miguel had already gotten out and moved around the car to open the door. Looking down, Frankie realized that Zach was not just a little asleep at this point. He was completely passed out. A thin line of drool hung from the corner of his mouth and Frankie smiled and wiped it away. He shook him lightly, but when he didn’t wake up, Frankie looked up at Miguel and then back down at Zach. He really didn’t want to wake Zach up, and he didn’t even know if he could if he tried... Frankie looked back up to Miguel thoughtfully, remembering how easily he had helped back at the bar.

Two minutes later, Miguel crossed their threshold, a sleeping Zach cradled in his arms, and Frankie was just getting over his fit of laughter. He had taken a few pics on the way up and he was dying to post them. Zach looked so adorable and tiny, held in Miguel’s large, muscular arms. Miguel was probably close to 6’5, and despite Zach insisting to anyone that would listen that he was 5’11, he was probably closer to 5’8. He looked like a baby being cradled in his sleep. He might end up being a little pissed, but Frankie couldn’t help himself. It was too good.

“I’ll take him from here, Miguel. I think I can get him into the bedroom.” Frankie smiled, holding out his arms.

“Sure, boss.” Miguel replied amicably. He handed over Zach like he weighed no more than a child. Frankie struggled under the weight, but he had been working out with Zach for over a year now and his strength was much greater than it used to be. Still, Zach was 5’8 of almost solid muscle, so he weighed a ton.

Frankie managed to get Zach, still asleep, into the bedroom and gently onto the bed. When he was safely down, Frankie slumped down next to him, a little exhausted, but he didn’t waste a minute before pulling up the pics and videos he had just taken of Zach. When he found a good one, a short video of Miguel carrying a peacefully sleeping Zach into the apartment, Frankie uploaded it to Snapchat with an app he had. He then uploaded it to instagram and twitter with the caption “I thought I was supposed to be the one to carry my man across the threshold?” When the pic had been up a few minutes he started to scroll through the comments and one made him laugh out loud, and beside him, Zach began to stir.

Zach stretched and rubbed his eyes, then looked around in obvious confusion. “What? Wait how the hell did I end up in our bed?” Zach asked, sitting up a little, looking around and then at Frankie. Frankie smiled.

“I carried you.” He said, his face serious. Zach looked at him skeptically.

“You carried me all the way up here without me waking up until right now?” He asked. Frankie smiled.

“Ok, well I had a little help. Miguel carried you from the car to our door. But I took you from there!” Frankie said, bragging and flexing, and Zach laughed and looked at Frankie, impressed.

“You’re so fucking ripped, babe. You’re so hot. All that working out is paying off.” Zach said, winking at the end of his sentence. Then he paused, adding “that trainer girl is keeping her hands to herself, right?” The seriousness in his voice made Frankie snort a laugh.

“Of course, babe.” Frankie said, looking at Zach like he was being silly. Zach was still very obviously drunk.

“Good, because I don’t need to compete with anyone. I did enough of that in the house.” He slurred a little and wrapped his arms around Frankie. Frankie was taken a little aback, Zach didn’t talk about Big Brother all that often. Even all this time later, it was still a bit of a sore spot, and he had never ended up watching their season.

“What do you mean, babe?” Frankie asked, his lips moving against the wild crop of thick brown hair on the top of Zach’s head.

“I don’t know.” Zach continued. “Sometimes I remember all the times where you seemed to like Caleb and Cal-zone, or whatever the fuck his name is right now, you know, better than me. I would have to try so hard to get your attention. It wasn’t fun, and I couldn’t tell you not to cuddle with them or even not to talk to them, even though I wanted to. I didn’t know what to do.” He said, and his words were pained. Frankie didn’t know where this was coming from.

“Zach, I never liked them in the same way that I liked you.” He soothed, but suddenly, drunk Zach was rearing back, his brain obviously suddenly filled by sour thoughts and he was reacting without thinking.

“Maybe you should just marry one of them. Because you don’t want to marry me.” He said, his words bitter and thick with drink. Frankie was a little shocked but he had to nip this in the bud, he wasn’t going to sit here and take crazy drunk Zach coming up with crazy drunk paranoid ideas.

“OH MY GOD. ZACHARY COLLIN RANCE, I never even see them. Where the hell is this even coming from? Do I fuck them every night? No. Have I been living with them for over a year? No. Do I tell them that I love them unconditionally, and that I want to spend the rest of my fucking life with them? NO.” Frankie said sharply, his temper rising. That had always been a problem for him, his temper. Sometimes he forgot how young Zach was in comparison. He leaned forward, so his face was right in front of Zach’s, hoping to shut this down right now. “I love you, and only you. I WILL marry you. Some day soon, I promise. Just not today. Now be my good boy, and shut the fuck up, you lovable little lunatic.” Frankie said, punctuating his words with a peck on the lips, and then he turned and headed towards their en suite leaving Zach wide eyed and silent on their bed behind him.

Frankie was feeling a little overwhelmed with the events of the evening and more than a little frustrated with Zach’s drunken outburst, so he thought nothing would be better to calm him down than a warm bath. So he put on Ariana’s newest smash hit studio album, lit some candles, and ran the bath, adding some lavender scented bubbles. The room smelled heavenly and when the water was the perfect level and temperature, he stripped down. He was just lowering himself into the soothing water as he heard a sheepish knock at the door. He smiled and rolled his eyes but said “come in” nonetheless, and in walked a nearly naked Zach.

He was wearing only his ‘lucky’ boxers and he was holding a bagel smeared with cream cheese and a slice of tomato in the other hand, a bottle of water tucked under his arm. He took a big bite as he walked and sat down on the edge of the tub. Frankie couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of him. When he was done chewing, Zach’s eyes were wide as he spoke. “See, I’m eating bread and drinking water like you always tell me to do after I’m done drinking. I figured I should actually listen this time.” He said, pausing. Then, shyly, he continued. “I like being your good boy… and I don’t like when you’re mad at me. You’re not mad at me anymore, right?” He asked with a tilt of his head. God, he acted like a lovesick puppy sometimes. Frankie smiled ruefully.

“Honestly, I was a little mad, but I’m not anymore. I know you’re not the best at controlling your feelings or your filter sometimes, especially when you’ve drank.” Frankie said. “You know, you should really work on that, babe, or it’s going to get you in trouble some time and I really will leave you for my hot trainer.” Frankie added, with obvious humour in his voice, smirking.

Zach’s eyes widened in fear and he looked adorable as he was almost stumbling over his own words. Fuck he was adorable, Frankie thought not for the first time. “No, no, no, no, please don’t, I love you so much! And since when do you like girls? Do I have to worry about girls now, too? Fuck.” Zach worried and Frankie let out a big laugh because Zach was so cute.

“Don’t worry baby, I will never leave you. Especially for a girl. Now, if Justin were to ask me, that might be a different story…” This got a smile out of Zach.

“Yeah, I’m not gonna lie, I might leave you for Justin too.” He said, and Frankie splashed him playfully from his place in the tub. Zach looked down at him, his eyes now a little heated as he registered that Frankie was naked and right next to him.

“Can I get in the tub with you?” He asked.

“Of course you can babe, finish your bagel first though, we have to try and soak up some of that alcohol.” Zach smiled and nodded and stuffed the remaining food in his mouth, and then he was pulling off his boxers and sinking into the tub opposite Frankie, groaning. He wrapped he legs around Frankie and leaned forward to kiss him. He tasted of bagel and tomato but Frankie didn’t care. Then Zach shifted and turned around so he could curl into Frankie’s side. He was always so clingy when he was drunk, Frankie loved it, and wrapped his arms around him.

“You know, I was going to fuck you for making me deal with that hard-on by myself at the restaurant earlier, Frankie, but now I think I want you to fuck me instead.” He said, his lips against Frankie’s chest just above the water line, his voice needy, his body pressing closely to Frankie’s, their wet skin slipping against each other. Frankie groaned and leaned down to kiss Zach slowly and sensually. Then he pulled back and smiled at him.

“Babe, I would love nothing more. That I can assure you. I would love to fuck you, tonight, and every night after if that is what you want.” Frankie murmured, not even trying to hold back his smile.

“Forever and always, Rose.” Zach said against his skin.

“You’re my forever and always, Zachary Collin Rance.” Frankie said through his wide smile and he pulled his face towards him to kiss him softly before the inevitable heat would take over. He loved this man, this mess, and he couldn’t wait to marry him. He was his mess. Forever and always.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story continues! Frankie is trying to get Zach out of the house so he can finish his design of the perfect ring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter! Maybe grab a drink or a snack lol! 
> 
> Hope you guys love it! 
> 
> Thanks as always to my partner in this fic, Jen (loving-teenage-fandoms on tumblr, @JenPrescott16 on twitter) for writing such fun outlines! It's a lot of fun writing them :)
> 
> With the fandom falling apart, please be extra sure you leave a kudos if you want more! Hoping people still want fic :)

Zach slept later than he should that morning, but it was Sunday and Zach was off that week so he wasn’t going to feel bad about it. He had woken up a few times already but he’d just kept his eyes shut, rolled over and drifted back to sleep every time. He could feel the weight of Frankie in the bed beside him, felt the steady rhythm of his breathing. It was actually kind of perfect. And he needed it. He and Frankie had stayed up late, making up for yet another little fight they’d had. Tensions had been high ever since their date at La Brochette on Tuesday, and this had been happening a lot. It never got too serious and was actually kind of fun, but it was exhausting. And Frankie never slept in with Zach so clearly he needed the sleep too.

Zach finally gave up on sleep when the hot breath panting in his face was making it impossible. Zach felt consciousness return and he opened his eyes to look into the big, brown ones staring back at him expectantly. Zach smiled and reached out his hand to run his fingers through the blonde curls. “Bad boy, waking Daddy up.” He laughed, pulling the body in for a tight squeeze. “Awwww, I can’t stay mad at you. You’re a good boy. Where’s Tiger?” He asked Lupin, who looked back at him goofily. The body behind Zach on the bed jumped up and whined when he said Tiger’s name, and suddenly Zach realized it wasn’t Frankie. “Babe?” Zach called out, wondering where he was. When there was no response, he turned to pet Tiger and say good morning.

Getting up, Zach stumbled the few steps to the bedroom door, intending to find some juice and maybe a bagel. The dogs rushed past him and when he looked down to watch them pass, he realized he was still totally naked. That happened a lot, being in a relationship with Frankie, it seemed. Zach had never woken up naked in his life before Frankie. He looked over his should at where his boxers and pants lay discarded on the opposite corner of the room. It was so far! He considered going to get them for way longer than he should have before shrugging and heading into the kitchen still in the nude. “I. Don’t. Give. A. Fuck!” He sang to the tune of Big Sean’s IDFWU, smiling.

On his way past the iPod dock he decided to turn it on and set it to shuffle. When a terrible old Katy Perry song came on and Zach started dancing harder than a left shark (and just as naked), he knew that things were getting back to normal. He had been so tense for the last week. Weeks, if he was serious. He’d been kind of wedding crazy for months now, ever since that wedding they’d attended last fall for one of Frankie’s friends. But the tension hadn’t started until Zach had gotten the idea that Frankie was avoiding the topic of marriage.

They used to talk openly about what they’d do when they married, that it was definitely going to happen. They’d talk about honeymoon destinations and centerpiece options, wedding bands and tux colours. But then one day it had all stopped and Frankie was clamming up every time Zach brought it up. So of course that made Zach push further which made Frankie pull back farther, and it had kind of come to a head the night of their date.

One of the main reasons Zach was so hesitant to go to Florida was that he could feel something big, huge, on the horizon. It felt ominous. And to be totally honest, he was totally, irrationally, terrified that Frankie was going to leave him. He’d always been, kind of. He used to treat every day with Frankie as a gift, like it wouldn’t last, because he was just waiting for him to wise up and realize he is Frankie effing Grande and Zach was just some frat nobody from Florida. Sure, now he hosted weekends on Dirty Pop, but that was only because of Frankie.

He used to think like that a lot, but in truth he had started to relax. To trust that this wasn’t going to all fall apart beneath him. But then Frankie started acting weird and Zach got freaked out all over again. He was still freaked out, but he had made a conscious decision not to push Frankie any further. The last thing Zach wanted to do was help Frankie in his decision to leave him, so he was going to play it cool. Go to Florida in fucking July. Let whatever was going to happen, happen. To see what fate had in store. Or at least what Florida had in store.

Zach poured himself some orange juice and took a bite out of his bagel. “Where’s our daddy?” He asked Lupin, smiling at the goofy face and shaggy curls hanging over his eyes. They really needed to get him a trim. And Zach wasn’t going to try to do it himself this time. The results had not turned out as expected and Frankie had made Zach walk him alone until it all grew out again. Zach scruffed his head as he walked past, carrying his bagel and juice to the couch. That’s where he saw the note laying on top of the tv remote. Zach picked it up and smiled.

‘Found the clicker!’ It started, making Zach laugh. ‘I walked the dogs already and won’t be out long. Hopefully you’re still in bed so I can crawl in and continue where we left off last night. xoxoxoFrankie’ Zach smiled and felt his dick twitch at the memory of the previous night and he flopped onto the couch, wincing as the sharp pain lanced up his core. Shit, that hurt! He had forgotten… damnit. Morning sex was off the table. Shit. He still hadn’t recovered from last night’s make up session, and it had been happening all week. It was a wonder he could still walk.

Zach grabbed his bagel and the clicker and turned on the tv. “Booooooo!” He jeered at the screen when it turned on and an episode of ‘Bridezillas’ was playing. Like was that even legal, right now? He threw a piece of his bagel at the screen and it bounced off, Tiger snatching it up before it even hit the floor. Lupin whined at this and Zach tore off a piece to feed to the golden doodle as well. He was nothing if he wasn’t fair. “When is it going to be my turn to be a bridezilla?” He asked Lupin wistfully, and almost laughed at himself. “Fuck. I’m the WORST.” He followed up, groaning.

Seriously, when had he become so obsessed with getting married? Just two years ago, he had been convinced that he wouldn’t marry until he was at least 40. AT LEAST. So why was he so desperate to now?

But he knew why. It was because of Frankie. Of course it was. Zach just wanted to know that he would spend the rest of his life with him, and he knew that a marriage certificate didn’t promise that, but it was a start. A promise.

Zach had always been kind of against marriage. He was a proponent of “cheating up” and just generally living an uncommitted lifestyle. Because he was worried. About getting stuck with the wrong girl and getting married and then spending his whole life being miserable. But he guessed when you met the right person, you just knew. And he knew, with Frankie.

It had been love at first sight. Well, for Zach at least. He didn’t think it was for Frankie, on account of Zach acting like a total douche. But he wasn’t far behind. Zach still hadn’t seen their season of Big Brother, but he had seen enough Zankie clips to know that what they had was very obviously special. Infinite. Unique. They were fucking isotopes, whatever that meant. And he was sure that it had been love at first sight, for him. The clip in the beehive, the infamous Pinecrest discussion, was hard to watch, but Zach went back to it often. Because that was where it all began.

Zach had been so intrigued by Frankie, so attracted to this shiny, pink ball of energy and light, that he had wanted desperately to impress him, to get to know him. But rather than impress him, he had insulted him. Zach hadn’t meant for that to happen, he really didn’t. But the words had vomited out his mouth and there was no stopping them. That happened a lot to Zach. He had had trouble controlling his filter his entire life. Usually he didn’t care, but with Frankie, he had wanted to claw the words back in the second they had escaped his lips. “I know what Pinecrest kids are like”… Are you fucking kidding me, Zach? He still groaned every time he thought of it. He was so lucky Frankie had given him another chance.

Zach had known, right then and there, that he had wanted to be with Frankie. He had spent many months repressing and denying it, but it was there, and it was his one, constant truth. If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that he wanted to be with Frankie Grande. Forever. And he didn’t want to wait another day to get married to him.

But he would. Because Frankie wanted to wait. And Zach didn’t want to do anything that might upset Frankie right now.

 

 

Frankie had spent the morning at the Spa getting a mani/pedi and a deep sea scrub facial and he was doing some shopping in the later morning, figuring he still probably had another hour or so before Zach would even think about waking up. He had gotten so productive in his mornings, living with Zach. Because they usually wanted to spend every minute together, and his loveable boyfriend certainly liked to sleep in. So the only time to get anything done was in the early hours of the day. Frankie didn’t mind, though. He had always been a morning person.

On this particular morning, New York City was glorious. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and Frankie loved a sunny New York so much, he couldn’t help the wave of optimism that washed over him as he strolled in and out of boutiques on 5th avenue, not far from the apartment he and Zach shared. He had made a couple impulse purchases and was just ringing up a pair of designer sneakers for Zach when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, wondering who it could be, and he wasn’t expecting the face he saw.

“Hey Frankstar, it’s been too long, bro!” Cody said, the smile on his face wide as he held out his arms and Frankie figured he had no choice but to hug him back.

“Hey Cody, you’re right it’s been forever!” Frankie said in return, handing his black credit card to the girl at the cash. It wasn’t that Frankie didn’t like Cody, it’s just that... well he wasn’t his biggest fan. Cody was better in small doses and he had had a huge dose shoved down his throat in the summer of 2014. As far as Frankie was concerned, he had spent years worth of visits with Cody during Big Brother, so they wouldn’t be due to hang out until about 2019 by Frankie’s estimation. Then Frankie saw Paul walk in the store, following Cody, and Frankie’s smile turned more genuine. He really did like Paul. He was an all around good guy. “And hey, Paul!” Frankie said. Cody turned to Paul, coming in.

“Hey Paul, look at this Jamoke I just ran into!” He said, and Frankie had to force himself not to laugh or roll his eyes. Ugh, he thought, gag me. Cody just couldn’t move on. I mean, seriously? Jamoke? In 2016? Welcome to two years ago, Cody.

Paul walked over, a wide grin on his face. “Well fancy meeting you here, Frankie!” He laughed, holding out his hand to slap a handshake and pull him into a patting hug which Frankie returned with less awkwardness than he did with Cody. “Don’t you live around here?”

“Yeah, just a couple blocks down actually! We moved in last year in the fall.” Frankie smiled, pleased that Paul had remembered.

“Fucking sick, bro. We’re still in the village.” Cody said, with prodigious eloquence.

“I love the Village!” Frankie said in return, not really knowing what else to say. He’d been to their place, it was nice. “So what brings you to my neighbourhood?” Frankie asked cheerfully, reaching out his hand to take the bag from the girl, thanking her, and then returning his attention to the Calafiores. They stood a few feet from the cash and Frankie tried to inch his way to the door.

“We’re just out shopping, wasting some time before a couple meetings with designers we’re trying to land.” Paul said. “It was good seeing you, Frankie! We should hang out sometime soon.” Frankie smiled, thankful that Paul was giving him an out to make his exit. He was opening his mouth to respond when Cody cut in.

“You should come to the opening tonight!” Cody said, and Paul seemed to nod immediately.

“What opening?” Frankie asked.

“This new club, they want to fill it with some hot people so we’re getting paid to go.” Cody said and Frankie held back a laugh as Paul rolled his eyes hard at his brother.

“Oh my God Cody, can you sound like more of a douche?” Paul asked and Frankie giggled, and Cody made a good humoured but outraged expression. “But you should come. You and Zach. We can get you in for free. It’ll be fun!” Paul urged, and Frankie suddenly brightened right up as an idea hit him. It was like fireworks were going off in his brain, it was so perfect.

“Tonight?” Frankie clarified. This was ideal. He had a meeting tonight, at the apartment, with a designer from Tiffany & Co. He had been working with the designer for the past couple months and he was bringing prototypes of the final three rings they had it narrowed down to. Tonight was the night that Frankie was going to pick the ring that he was going to propose with and it had to go perfect. So of course, Zach was proving impossible to get out of the house. Frankie had told Zach he was going to have dinner with “investors” tonight and had suggested many things that Zach could do while he was “gone” but Zach was being stubborn in his decision to stay at home and “wait for Frankie”.

“Yeah, tonight. We have to get there pretty early.” Cody answered, and Frankie smiled widely.

“Sounds great! Well, not for me. I can’t make it, dinner with investors. But Zach will go, better than sitting around the apartment. And you guys can hang and bro out, or whatever you do.” Frankie said, and Cody looked so excited that he could have sworn it was Christmas and Frankie was Santa Claus. Frankie figured this was even better news for Cody, getting to hang out with Zach without Frankie there.

“Awesome!” Cody said quickly, then adding. “Well, it sucks you can’t come but it’ll be great to see Zachattack again.” Frankie snorted a laugh.

“Well you’ll see Zach but I hope you don’t see Zachattack! But if you do, can you tell him he still owes me the security deposit I didn’t get back from my old apartment because of that hole he punched in the wall when the Gators lost?” He said dryly and Paul laughed more than Cody. Being a little older, he seemed to understand Frankie’s reservations about that particular side of Zach’s personality that Cody just didn’t. It wasn’t that Frankie didn’t love Zachattack, it was just that he was afraid of him. Terribly, terribly afraid of him.

“I’ll text you the details.” Paul said, and Frankie thanked them both and said good bye and practically skipped home. He was going to get Zach out, and it wasn’t even a bullshit or made up reason! He was one step closer to his plan working out. And he was over the moon happy and excited to see his rings, all real and physical, so he could hold them and look at them and try them on. He had gone back and forth between these three for so long that he had decided it was worth the expense of the prototype creation and the private designer because this needed to be perfect. He needed to be sure.

“Thank you, Gary!” Frankie said as the doorman opened the door to the building for him, and Frankie practically floated inside. “Morning, Lars!” He said to the desk manager, who smiled warmly and returned the greeting. Wasn’t today just the best?

 

 

Frankie snuck into the apartment, opening the door quietly, though his stealth was ruined by the eruption of puppy enthusiasm as he put the shopping bags down on the floor and the dogs turned their attention to sniffing the new items, checking for treats. Frankie put his keys in the bowl by the door and moved quietly through the apartment, checking for Zach. When he didn’t see him anywhere, Frankie smiled and headed for their bedroom.

He cracked open the door to see Zach sprawled across their bed, buck naked, and he’d kicked the sheets off in his sleep. His hair shot in every direction and his mouth hung open, one arm was slung over his chest, the other stretched out straight. Frankie smiled widely at the man that owned his heart. “GOOD MORNING MY LOVE!!!” Frankie sang loudly, jumping on the bed next to Zach, causing him to bounce a little despite their expensive pocket coil mattress.

“HRUUGGHH!” Zach made the noise as his eyes sprung open and he jolted upright at the shock, his eyes searching but unseeing until the sleep left them and consciousness returned. Then his eyes locked onto Frankie’s and he groaned again and flopped back down onto the bed, curling into him.

“Oh, sorry babe, I thought you would’ve been up by now. It’s almost noon.” Frankie said, smiling down at his sleepy puppy of a boyfriend. He even petted his head soothingly, Zach pressing his into the contact as he enjoyed it.

“I was up, but then you weren’t home.” Zach said, pouting a little, he was still sleepy. “It wasn’t worth being awake without you there with me.” He said, and Frankie felt his heart melt. Frankie curled his own body around Zach’s and held him tight, kissing the top of his head.

“You are the cutest human to have ever walked this earth.” Frankie said into the thick brown hair as he held him tight, then Zach pulled back just a little to look at Frankie.

“I don’t try to, it just comes naturally, babe.” He replied matter-of-factly and Frankie laughed.

“I have a surprise for you. Well, kind of a surprise. It depends on how you look at it. It’s something you don’t know about, so technically it’s a surprise, but--”

“What is it?” Zach interrupted, and Frankie grinned guiltily. He was rambling because he was nervous. He needed this to go smoothly. “Guess who I ran into today?” He said, trying to sound excited but failing.

“Judging by your tone, Taylor Swift?” Zach responded sarcastically. Frankie laughed.

“Yeah right, I wish. Though you do remind me, I should call her… But no, I ran into Cody and Paul while I went shopping after my appointment. Which reminds me, I got you the CUTEST shoes, but anyways. Cody and Paul are going to a club opening tonight and they want you to come! Well they wanted both of us, but because I have that investor meeting, I told them you’d go. It’s perfect! Right?” Frankie asked, trying to be extremely chipper. He was selling the idea, so he wanted to make it sound great.

Zach just stared at Frankie like he had just asked him to shoot heroin. “Why would I want to go clubbing with that asshat and his brother?” Zach asked incredulously, though thinking better he added “No, Paul’s not that bad, but still. I haven’t seen them in forever. Don’t you think it would be kind of awkward? All he ever talks about is Big Brother, and I seriously don’t even give a fuck at this point. Hey, what?” He asked, because Frankie had started laughing when Zach had actually used the word ‘asshat’ as an insult.

“Zach, I know Cody isn’t your favourite person in the world, but I said you’d go because I thought it would be good to go out, I won’t be home anyways. Besides, I thought you’d love to get a night away from me to hang with your bros?” Frankie asked, and Zach rolled his eyes.

“Those guys aren’t my bros, babe. My bros live in Florida, and my main bro is in New York but he’s too busy getting down and dirty with Lauren that he never has time anymore. Ugh, girlfriends suck.” He said, sulking. Frankie smiled at him, feeling a little bad for ruining his good mood by forcing a night out with Cody on him, but he really needed Zach out of the apartment and as far away as possible so he could put all of his focus on the ring selection.

There was one outcome that Frankie needed, which was Zach leaving the house tonight. But Zach was resistant, and Frankie needed him to agree to go without making it too obvious that he was forcing him, or else Zach would get suspicious. He hadn’t had to be so devious and duplicitous since his time in Big Brother and sure he felt a little guilty, but he justified that in this case the ends were definitely going to justify the means.

Frankie crawled on top of Zach slowly, smiling slyly. “Well I think boyfriends can suck too… you’re pretty good at sucking, as I recall…” Frankie murmured, lightly licking and sucking on Zach’s neck. Zach moaned in pleasure in response, and leaned to expose his sensitive spot, giving in to Frankie, but then his body stiffened and Frankie could practically hear the gears grinding in his brain. Frankie tried to keep kissing in the mean time but soon Zach was lightly pushing him off.

“Hey, whoa, whoa, hey!” He said, distancing himself from Frankie and pointing at him. “Don’t think for a second I don’t know exactly what you’re doing!” He said sharply, suspiciously. Frankie felt himself pale. Zach knew? How did he find out? Did someone tell him about Frankie’s plans? But no, he hadn’t told anyone but his mom and the man Tiffany’s. Did Tiffany’s call Zach by accident? But no, how would that even be possible? His mind raced as he tried to think of what Zach could know but realized he was going to look really suspicious if he didn’t answer at all.

“What do you mean?” He asked, in what he thought was the most innocent tone he could muster. Zach just raised his eyebrow, as if to say ‘don’t play dumb with me, fucker’.

“Frankie, every time you want me to do something, you always try to persuade me with sex. But you know what? I’m on to you.” He said, smugly, as though he were Sherlock Holmes and he had cracked the case. Frankie let out an exhale and laughed. He couldn’t believe the relief. He had thought for a horrible moment that everything was ruined. God, he hadn’t been so paranoid since he left the BB house.

“Yeahhhhh, you caught me! I like to persuade my boyfriend with sex. That’s my biiiiig secret. Sue me!” He said, smiling sweetly, and Zach giggled. “ But honestly Zach, I really think you should go. I think Cody really misses you, and you like Paul right? Plus he said some of the co-owners of their gym are gonna meet up with them at the club. So you don’t have to talk with Cody the whole time! You can talk with the meat heads. About deltoids and what a bitch leg day is, whatever you bros talk about. Pussy, and whatnot.”

At the word ‘pussy’, Zach broke down into giggles and Frankie saw his opportunity so he mounted him again, pinning him down and showering him with kisses, attacking his neck like he used to do “platonically” back in the house. What wasn’t so platonic was the raging boner this always gave Zach, and Frankie was using that to his advantage. “Frankkkkiiiieeeeeee” Zach whined, trying to wiggle away and laughing. Frankie tightened his grip and between kisses began his final persuasion.

“Please go out *kiss* you deserve it *kiss* you’ll have fun *kiss* I promise *kiss*” Frankie spoke the words into the sensitive skin of Zach’s neck and he slowly lost all control (as if he had much to begin with) and finally gave in.

“Ok, ok, OKAY!” He laughed, pushing Frankie off a little. I’ll go out with the Olsen twins! You win, again! Fucking damnit, Frankie, will I ever win against you?” He asked, smiling ruefully and Frankie was so ecstatic that his plan was still intact, that Zach would be out and he could give Claude from Tiffany’s all of his attention, that he bounced up and down a little, on top of Zach. Because there was nothing more important than this right now. He smiled down at the man laying beneath him, the man he loved, the man he wanted to marry, and he knew he would do anything for him. His love was so complete, so whole, that he would move mountains if he asked him to. Zach deserved a perfect wedding. A perfect marriage. A perfect life. And Frankie was going to give it to him. Nothing could fill him with more joy.

“I’ll let you win later tonight, how ‘bout that?” Frankie asked, smiling down at Zach. “After you go out with the Olsen twins, that is.” Frankie said, giggling. Zach’s look turned heated as he shook his head.

“You let me win right now, and it’s a deal. I couldn’t bottom again if I wanted to, right now, not after last night and this past week, so I’m on top.” He said, looking up at Frankie accusingly and laughing. “Deal?”

“This isn’t Deal or No Deal, Zach. Of course you have a fucking deal.” Frankie giggled, and Zach reached up to pull him down for a deep and passionate kiss. It stretched on for minutes as they lazily explored each other’s mouths before Zach pulled back to look at Frankie suddenly.

“Wait, did you say you got me new shoes?” He asked, and Frankie laughed and collapsed his head onto Zach’s chest, smiling. Some things would never change.

“Yes, baby, I got you new shoes.” He sighed dramatically, but Zach just nodded and smiled widely.

“Sick.” He said, before pulling Frankie back up for more. This was the man Frankie wanted to marry. Sometimes he really wondered about himself.

 

 

Zach eyed himself in the bathroom mirror and smirked. Not bad. Fitted charcoal grey silk dress shirt, skinny black pants, his diamond studs, the new shoes Frankie got him, and his hair was defying gravity in all the right ways. He looked pretty fucking hot, if he did say so himself. His heart fell a little at the thought, though, thinking what a waste it was that Frankie wouldn’t be there to enjoy it. He was already a little grumpy about the thought of dancing in the first place, his ass had not recovered yet, but he hoped alcohol would help. It usually did.

Zach’s hand went back and forth along the line of cologne bottles as he tried to decide, before he grabbed one of Frankie’s perfumes instead. He sprayed the Chanel Number 5 into a cloud in the air and walked back and forth in it, smiling at the smell. It smelled like Frankie, and Zach figured if he couldn’t be there, at least he could bring a little part of him with him.

“Frankie, do I really have to go!?” He called from their bedroom where he was running a lint brush over his black pants, trying to fight the never ending fur battle. Light pants or dark, he had a dog to ruin either kind. It was a good thing they were cute. Frankie walked into the bedroom a moment later, stopping at the door frame. “Yes my love, I’m sorry but I kind of committed you. You haven’t been out without me in such a long time, though. Don’t you ever want any time to yourself?” Frankie asked, his eyebrows raised. “Even if it’s with Cody.” Frankie added, his look turning apologetic. Zach tried to hold it back because he was being pouty, but he thought a bit of his smile probably broke through at that.

Zach thought about what Frankie had asked him. Did he ever want any time to himself? “No, not really. Why? Do you get sick of me?” He asked, hearing the pathetic tone in his voice, and suddenly panicked. You should never ask a question you don’t want to know the answer to. “Never mind don’t answer that!” He hastily added, feeling a little embarrassed. Frankie smiled and walked towards him, reaching out and playfully pushing Zach’s chest.

“That is not where I was going with my question, Rose. I absolutely adore spending my time with you. I wish there were more hours in the day so I could spend them with you, I never get bored of you. But I just meant is that I’d understand. It’s normal, spous—boyfriends need time apart. I don’t want you to get sick of me.” He added, smiling and Zach rolled his eyes.

“Yeah right! Are you new here? I’m never getting sick of you. You’re stuck with me.” Zach added, but then suddenly felt nervous, feeling he had tread too close to the wedding nerve. He saw Frankie tense a little and Zach inwardly winced at his own stupidity. “Anyways, I’m sorry.” Zach added, wrapping his arms around Frankie. “I should have understood what you meant. Yeah, I guess it’s healthy for every couple to do their own thing every once in a while. I just think that in like, every category, you’re better than everyone else. You’re funnier, smarter, hotter, more interesting. Why would I ever not want to be with you? And I miss you sometimes… I don’t have as much going on as you right now, so I sometimes feel like I don’t get to see you enough as it is. I’m sorry, I’m being stupid.”

Zach’s chin was slung over Frankie’s shoulder as he spoke, their embrace lingering as they leaned in to each other. That made the words easier to say. He used to keep feelings like that locked up inside all the time. If someone asked him a question, he’d either refuse to answer it or outright lie or bullshit. But with Frankie, he found that he didn’t have to do that anymore. He had found someone he could speak his truth with, to open up to and to trust. And even if he was worried that Frankie would leave him, he was still willing to entrust his heart and soul to this man, to let him cherish or destroy them, whatever he chose.

Frankie pulled back to peck at Zach’s lips. “Zach, your feelings aren’t stupid. I will never think your feelings are stupid. Thank you for telling me. I miss you all the time, too. But I can’t change tonight and I want YOU to have fun too, even if it’s not with me.” Frankie said, smiling and trying to cheer Zach up. Zach couldn’t help smiling in response. “And by the way, you smell amazing.” He added, making Zach blush.

“Thanks, I wanted to smell like you.” He chuckled bashfully. “And I hear you, babe. I promise I’ll try to have fun. I mean, I’m pretty sure this is going to suck, but I’ll put on a happy face and fake it til I make it anyways. Alcohol should help.” Zach said, causing Frankie to smile widely.

“It usually does.” He said, chuckling, then leaned in for a short kiss. “That’s my man.” He said, proudly, and Zach smiled back at him. They were interrupted a moment later by the intercom buzzing by the front door. “Oh, they’re here!” Frankie said, his eyes wide, and he smiled and kissed Zach one more time before turning to go answer the door. “You’ll be fine, babe!” He said, and then he was out the door and Zach looked around the room to see if he had everything.

He was feeling a little guilty for making such a big deal about hanging out with Cody. They used to be bros, Zach had really liked him back in Big Brother and for a little while afterwards. They’d done that meet and greet thing together. But Zach had changed a lot in the last two years and he was really just feeling like they’d grown apart, or that Zach had outgrown Cody. Something. But they used to have a great time together so he was going to try to pretend like he was back in time tonight. Try to make the best of the situation. Hearing the front door open, Zach headed out to greet the Calzone brothers.

 

 

Frankie opened the door to find a beaming Cody standing right there. “Hey Frankie!” He said, craning his neck to see Zach coming towards the door and his smile somehow got even bigger. “Hey! Z-Money! How the fuck have you been!?” Cody enthused, walking right past Frankie towards Zach. “Long time no see!” He said before pulling him into a powerful bro hug that was maybe a little too powerful and a not nearly bro-y enough for Frankie’s liking. He had forgotten about that… Frankie had always suspected there was a little more to Cody’s love of Zach than met the eye and he felt the old green eyed monster snarl up inside him. He had to force that away with will, because he actually needed Zach to go out with Cody tonight, and he really did want them to have fun. Just not too much fun. He trusted Zach, but Cody? Not so much.

Frankie turned his head from Zach and Cody’s reunion to Paul, and greeted him, and then the two of them turned back to Zach and Cody, who were catching up. “I’ve been awesome, dude.” Zach was saying. “Me and Frankie are great, and I’ve been hosting Dirty Pop Live over the weekends for Lance. Been MC’ing here and there. But basically just trying to spend time with Frank whenever I’ve got him and he’s not jetting off somewhere to host this or star in that.” Zach said, and Frankie thought he saw a look of pride on Zach’s face that warmed him from the inside.

“I’m not THAT busy, Zach.” Frankie said modestly when he finished, chuckling lightly in a happy embarrassment.

“You’re pretty busy!” Zach replied, ready as he always was to get into a debate.

“I’m pretty busy too!” Cody interjected and Frankie was grateful, though he had to force himself not to laugh.

“I’ve been following your instagram, you guys both seem to be doing well!” Frankie said, looking between Cody and Paul. Paul shrugged and smiled modestly.

“We’re doing alright. I mean, it’s almost all for like gay stuff but that’s cool.” Paul said, smiling and Cody looked angry.

“Hey, it’s still modelling! It doesn’t matter if it’s for a gay magazine, it still counts. It’s still work.” Cody insisted and they all laughed and Paul clapped him on the back.

“It’s okay Cody, we all know you’re a great model.” Paul said and Cody looked happier. Frankie smiled at them, wondering internally if Cody also counted that nude shoot he had done for Playgirl? Frankie and Zach definitely didn’t have a copy of that in their closet that they’d take out to laugh at every now and then. And they definitely hadn’t bought a copy to send everyone from their season of Big Brother. It was the best thing that had happened all of last August.

“And my man is quite the entertainer. I think it’s only so long before he gets a bigger gig in radio, or maybe like host of a reality competition or something? But he’s going places.” Frankie bragged a little, thinking Cody had had enough attention already. Then he looked at his phone, saw the time, and had a minor panic attack. Claude could show up at any time if he was the kind of person that showed up early, and he was due in like 10 minutes. How had time gotten away from him so fast? “But shouldn’t you guys be heading out? That new club sounds so exciting! I’m sad I can’t go.” Frankie said, trying to hide the panic in his voice so Zach wouldn’t get suspicious.

All three of the guys looked at Frankie strangely, like they could sense the shift in his energy. He wasn’t acting cool enough. Frankie groaned internally and forced himself to adopt a calm and collected outward façade. God, he was getting sick of all this sneaking around. He hated it. He couldn’t wait for the proposal to be over with and for everything to be out in the open. He was getting so tired of acting like a nervous wreck.

As Frankie was composing himself, Zach moved towards him and ran a hand down Frankie’s back. “What’s the rush, babe?” He asked with humour in his voice. “It’s still early, we’ve got lots of time.” He said, not understanding why Frankie cared when they left. Frankie was starting to lose his mind. How the fuck was he going to convince them to leave without being even more suspicious? But before Frankie could open his mouth, Paul, like the angel he was, interjected.

“Actually, I wanted to get there at a decent time, so we should leave now if we want to beat traffic. Plus we’re getting paid, we should be early.” Paul said, but all Frankie could hear was a choir of angels singing as Paul spoke because oh my god, he could kiss him he was so thankful. He almost said ‘Thank God’ out loud, but luckily snapped his mouth shut just as the words were going to escape.

“You’re sure you don’t want to come with us, babe? It would be way more fun.” Zach asked with a hopeful look on his face. It melted Frankie’s heart, he was such a puppy sometimes. There was desperation in his voice and it almost pained Frankie to say no.

“I really wish I could, but you know I have dinner plans with Ari.” Frankie breezed, but then froze, realizing his mistake. Zach froze as well and then narrowed his eyebrows.

“I thought you said you had a ‘dinner meeting’ with a few of your investors?” Zach said, his voice on edge. Fuck. Shit. Damnit. Frankie thought fast and tried to blow off his mistake like it was trivial.

“Oh, yeah, you’re right babe, dinner with Ari is tomorrow night. I was just thinking about her. Yeah investors tonight, Ari tomorrow.” Frankie said, leaning forward to kiss Zach on the lips, hoping to distract him. “Didn’t I tell you? Sean is even supposed to be there!” Frankie added brightly, feeling the horror build in his chest as every new lie left his lips. Sean? Why did he have to bring up Sean? Fuck, now he had to get Ari AND Sean to New York by tomorrow. Fuck. One lie was covering up another lie and Frankie didn’t know how long he’d be able to juggle so many untruths before getting caught.

Zach looked like he honestly didn’t know if he believed Frankie or not, but he was a good boyfriend and they had a lot of trust so after a moment’s hard thought, his features softened a little and he leaned in for another kiss. “Ok babe, see you when I get back. I’ll send you a text when I’m on my way.” And then he, Paul, and Cody left and when Frankie closed the door behind them he leaned against it and sank to the floor in relief.

But the relief wasn’t over quite yet. Frankie ran straight to the tv and turned it on to channel 2, the building’s lobby security camera channel. Frankie let his eyes scan through the four pictures, keeping them locked between the elevators and the front lobby. A minute later, the elevators were opening and he watched as Zach, Cody, and Paul got out. They were smiling and Cody seemed to be telling some animated story, and they walked through the security door. They were almost out, and Claude wasn’t here. Frankie felt his body flood with relief.

But then the relief vanished and his stomach dropped as he watched them stop in behind the security door, in the glass foyer with the security code panel. Paul was pulling out his phone and Cody and Zach were chatting. Move! Frankie urged with his mind, willing the telepathy to work. Go outside! Fuck. Paul was calling a cab, Frankie knew it. But they were on 5th avenue, why not just go outside and hail one! Oh my God, Claude was going to get there and Zach and the Calafiores were going to be RIGHT THERE because they were too precious to go out in the heat and hail a cab. And then the door opened, and there was Claude. Carrying a briefcase. Labelled Tiffany & Co.

Frankie thought he died right there, but a moment later the intercom was buzzing and Frankie was panicking. He could see Zach checking Claude out, eyeing the briefcase, and Claude was buzzing up for Frankie, completely unaware that that was Zach, the person who absolutely couldn’t know a thing about this. The intercom buzzed again. Damnit, Frankie was going to have to think of something. If he answered, his voice would be heard in the foyer and Zach would recognize him. Then Frankie had an idea.

“Hellllloooo?” He asked, putting on his best Mrs. Doubtfire old lady voice, and praying that Zach didn’t recognize him. He looked over his shoulder at the tv and he saw Zach looking strangely at Claude, obviously eavesdropping. Shit.

“Yes, hello. This is Claude Giroux, here from Tiffany’s for a mr—“

“Yes! I’ve been expecting you, come in, darling!” Frankie rushed to interrupt him. Oh my god, he’d been about to say Frankie’s name! He hoped his old lady voice was holding up. He knew it sounded ridiculous, but if Mrs. Doubtfire’s own kids didn’t recognize him in that costume, then he could get away with this! He watched as Claude entered through the door and Zach seemed to watch him go, but then he was turning back to Cody and it seemed again like everything was going to be okay. Frankie sighed deeply. When he saw the elevator doors close with Claude safely on his way up to the apartment, he finally relaxed.

Frankie picked up the remote to turn off the tv, but just as he was going to, he watched in bewilderment and then complete horror as he saw Zach patting all of his pockets like he was looking for something. Frankie’s eyes went wide as he slowly turned his head. And then he saw it. It was slow motion, like in a scary movie, and Frankie could imagine the screeching violin music as the camera would jarringly zoom in on what he saw laying on the hallway table. The most horrifying thing that Frankie could ever imagine seeing, just sitting there. It was Zach’s phone.

Frankie swung his head around to the tv again and watched Zach hold up a finger asking Cody and Paul to wait, and then he was opening the front door with his passcode and rushing to the elevators. Shit! What the hell was Frankie going to do?

At that same moment, there was a knock on the door and Frankie rushed to answer it. “Claude!” He said in what he hoped was a bright tone but in reality was much more manic sounding. “Please come in!” He said, panicked. He had less than a minute. Zach couldn’t see Claude here. “Have I shown you our bedroom?” Frankie said, putting his hand on Claude’s back and forcibly walking him towards their bedroom. “We just redid it!” Frankie said, nervously looking at the completely bewildered expression on Claude’s face.

“Frankie, how are you doing?” Claude asked, trying to keep to his polite introduction but clearly thrown off by Frankie’s strange behaviour. “Or, what are you doing?” He asked, laughing lightly like he wasn’t sure what was going on. Claude was a formal man, he took what he did seriously, but he was also a romantic. He and Frankie had talked for hours about proposals and picking the perfect ring. Frankie felt he could trust him to try to keep this a secret from Zach.

“Fine, I’m so sorry, Claude! But I need you to hide for a minute. Zach is going to be up here any second and I can’t have any sign of you here. He saw you down in the lobby!” Frankie said, his voice now shaking a little. Claude smiled and his eyes seemed to twinkle.

“Oh, this is going to be such a wonderful surprise! The rings are beautiful, I can’t wait to show you. Just show me where to hide!” He smiled, and much to Frankie’s relief he was playing along. Frankie took a relieved breath and opened the door to their large walk in closet. It was more the size of a small bedroom, but he apologized nonetheless.

“Sorry, Claude. Thank you so much. I’ll get him out of here as soon as I can. It’ll just be a minute.” Frankie said, and Claude quirked a sardonic smile with a raised eyebrow.

“I was in the closet for years, what’s another couple minutes?” He asked, and Frankie laughed despite his nerves, and then he rushed out to meet Zach. Or, more truthfully, to casually pretend like he wasn’t hiding a ring designer in their closet and that he hadn’t seen Zach coming on the tv, so he was totally surprised when Zach came back to grab his phone. Shit, that reminded Frankie. The tv! He ran and managed to turn it off just a second before he heard Zach’s key in the door.

At the noise, Frankie turned away and pretended to be straightening up some magazines on their coffee table when Zach came in behind him. “Babe?” He asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible. “What are you doing back?” Frankie asked.

“Forgot my phone!” Zach said, moving over to give Frankie another kiss. “And hey, I get another kiss out of it. But now that I’m up here, what do you think about this shirt? I think I might run and change it.” Zach said, and for half a second Frankie regarded the shirt and thought about his opinion of it. But then he realized where Zach kept his shirts… no. Nononononono.

“No!” Frankie said too sharply, causing Zach to raise an eyebrow. “No babe, you look so sexy. I want to take this off of you later.” Frankie tried another tactic, and he said the last sentence in a sexy, seductive tone, walking his fingers up the buttons on Zach’s chest and watching him shiver at the touch. Sex. Always distract Zach with sex. This was rule number 1 of living with Zach Rance. He already looked glazed over and more pliable.

“Okay babe.” Zach said, then reaching out he grabbed Frankie’s dick through his pants and smiled. “But none of your investors better be hot. I don’t want to be jealous.” Frankie smiled and ground into his hand.

“You have nothing to worry about, darling. I think I have more to worry about with you at the club without me! Do you know how good you look?” Frankie asked, willing himself not to look towards the bedroom where Claude was hiding. “But you’re going to be late, you better go, babe.” Frankie urged, and Zach rolled his eyes but headed towards the door.

“At least now that I have my phone I can text you and I won’t be totally bored.” Zach said, and Frankie almost sagged with relief. A moment later they had kissed and Zach was gone and Frankie thought he could cry. He was going to get away with this. Somehow, he was going to get away with it.

When Frankie opened to door to the closet, he saw Claude turning to admire himself in Frankie’s Malan Breton red satin blazer. He turned to Frankie, and Frankie thought he saw the stars shine in his eyes. “I’ll take this jacket, in lieu of a tip.” He said and Frankie smiled widely.

“Darling, take your pick. I am so relieved right now I’d probably say yes to anything. Now let’s look at rings!” Frankie sang, and together they moved to the living room and spent the next hour and a half pouring over the three prototypes that he had made. They were all beautiful beyond compare. Frankie wished he could get all three for Zach. It was so hard, just choosing one.

Frankie knew that his marriage to Zach was going to be about more than just a ring, but he couldn’t help but wanting it to be perfect. And so he had gone back and forth between them, trying them on, talking them over, holding them to the light. In the end, Frankie couldn’t deny his connection with one of the three rings more than the others. He had teared up when he first saw it. It was absolutely perfect. It featured two rows of little square diamonds in a platinum setting, with a slightly bigger square in the middle. It was masculine but beautiful. It was everything Frankie wanted it to be.

He told Claude that his final decision would be the “Break Free” ring (he had named the prototypes after three of his sister’s songs) and as Claude began to write up the paperwork to commission the real ring to be made, Frankie sat there, breathless, looking at the ring on his hand that would soon be on the finger of the man he loved, forever. This was it. This was the ring. But it was more than just a ring. It was a promise of a perfect life to come. Frankie smiled as he gazed at the sparkling diamonds, thinking of Zach. He hoped he was having a good time at the club.

 

 

Zach had had a surprisingly fun night after all, so far. He, Cody, and Paul had taken a cab over to Miguel’s after calling him last minute to see if he’d drive them in his limo and help them show up in style. It seemed stupid at first, but Zach figured why not. He was soon glad when he remembered the fully stocked mini bar in the back. He had been stiff and resistant to having fun at first but a couple mini bottles of Patron later, he was loose and laughing along at whatever stupid stories Cody was saying. He had forgotten that Cody could be funny sometimes. Nowhere FRANKIE funny, that is, but he could say some pretty funny shit sometimes.

When they got to the club and pulled up out front, Zach was a little surprised to see a crowd formed in a line behind a red velvet rope, and when they got out of the limo lots of girls had started to scream. Zach was a fairly recognizable celebrity at that point, Frankie more so, and girls and ladies started screaming Zach’s name. Some were calling questions about Frankie. Someone started a chant about Zankie. Zach was smiling, eating it all up but finally he held up his hands and called out to the crowd so they could hear.

“Sorry, everyone, Frankie couldn’t make it tonight.” He had to pause because there was a chorus of ‘Awwwwwww’s’ but they were still happy to see Zach… and Cody. Zach had forgotten about Cody with all the excitement. He loved his Zankie and Zacharoo fans so much, at this point all those left with him were good, loyal people and he appreciated their support, so he stayed out signing autographs, talking, and taking selfies for almost half an hour. Cody had gone in after 10 minutes, he had grumbled about all the fans calling for Zach. Zach found that kind of funny, that he was getting more attention than Cody who had come in 2nd on their season and who was in some pretty big ad campaigns.

Just as Zach was getting ready to head inside a girl asked him “So when are you and Frankie getting married?”, which caused the crowd to erupt into cat calls and cheers of encouragement. Even after all this time, Zach was a little shy about talking about Frankie in public, and he didn’t know how to address a question like that, so he smirked and shrugged.

“Whenever he asks me, I guess.” Zach said with a wink, and the crowd ate it up. With that, Zach turned and headed inside where there seemed to be a good party going on. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, the music was good. As Zach made his way through the crowd, scanning the faces under the flashing lights for Cody or Paul, the song changed to a club remix of ‘Love Me Harder’ and Zach smiled and started grooving as he walked. He found Paul and Cody in the back, just beside the dancefloor, by the second bar. Zach smiled and nodded his head to them as he approached.

“What took you so long?” Cody shouted over the music.

“Didn’t want to leave before the fans were satisfied!” Zach yelled back, grinning. Cody rolled his eyes.

“You’re such a jamoke, Zach. They don’t care about your autograph.” Cody said, playing it as a joke but the jealousy evident below the surface. Zach laughed, he loved getting a rise out of Cody.

“Not my fault they weren’t falling over themselves for Calzone autographs. Maybe if you’d come in first they’d have cared more?” Zach teased and Cody looked annoyed. Paul threw his head back and laughed before adding.

“Now to be fair Zach, you know what they say. First is the worst, second is the best.” Zach laughed and Cody scowled.

“Does that mean Veronica has the hairy hairy chest?” Zach asked back and that caused Cody to smile again, all three of them laughing for a moment before Cody regained his bravado.

“Whatever, fuckboy, go buy us the first round of shots.” Zach slapped him on the back and let out a Zachattack sized laugh and headed for the bar to buy the first round. Suddenly, he was fixing to get turnt tonight. It had been too long. He was amped up and ready to go.

A few minutes later, Zach returned with six Kamikaze shots and he saw three other people standing with Cody and Paul. There were two guys and a girl, and when he joined them and put down the tray on the tall bar table they stopped their conversation and the three strangers regarded him and the shots. Zach looked between them, waiting for an introduction.

“Zach! Hey everyone, this is Zach Rance, I was on Big Brother with this kid!” He said, and by their unimpressed looks, Zach thought that maybe they didn’t know or care what Big Brother was. “Zach this is Kenny, Leslie, And Mike. They’re co-owners of the gym I invested in.” Cody explained and Zach nodded at them.

“Hey guys, well I guess let’s get this party started!” Zach said, suddenly less enthusiastic about the night. He was even less enthusiastic when a second later, Kenny, Leslie, and Mike all turned and took two shots each off the tray, and there were none left. What the fuck? Talk about entitled. But Zach still thought he could maybe have a fun night out of this, so he just shrugged to Cody and Paul. “I only got six, sorry. But I can get more.”

Zach returned a little while later with a tray loaded with different flavoured shots. He was sure he’d regret it in the morning, but after the gym brats had taken all his previous shots, he’d decided to go a little crazy. They’d done a few founds when he returned and soon everyone was in much better spirits. They all headed out to the dance floor and the girl, Leslie, seemed to take a special interest in Zach. Zach was having fun and dancing and he’d occasionally reciprocate and dance back with her, but she had been getting closer and closer all night, even when Zach made it pretty clear that he wasn’t interested like that. She seemed a little drunk and didn’t take the hint, however, and it was an awkward back and forth until they all decided they’d had enough dancing and headed back to sit in one of the huge booths of the VIP section. It was a little quieter there so it was easier to talk, too.

Zach was actually having a pretty good time, despite dodging passes from a girl with -5% body fat the whole time. He was having a great time, actually, all the way up until Mike decided it was his turn to try to make casual conversation. “So Zach, what’s the deal? Why aren’t you hooking up tonight? I saw plenty of girls hitting on you on the dance floor, and they were mostly 7s and 8s at least!” Mike said, leaning in and holding his bottle of beer. Zach thought for a second about how he was going to answer the question.

“Actually my partner had a business dinner to attend to tonight so he couldn’t make it.” Zach replied easily, trying to turn away from Mike and towards Cody and Paul who sounded like they were talking about something more fun and less invasive, like moisturizing techniques, or which brand banana hammocks made their packages look best. But Mike was like a dog with a bone and Zach couldn’t dodge him so easily.

“No, I’m not talking about business, I’m talking about your girl friend, and I know you’re not married because I don’t see a ring on your finger. Unless you left it at home, you dog!” He said, winking and smiling as the other guy, Kenny, laughed it up. As though cheating on a spouse was something to laugh about. Zach gave him a disgusted look. He didn’t like these people, and suddenly, he was feeling bitchy.

“Yeah, cheating on your wife is hilarious. Hah hah. But if my boyfriend proposed and gave me a ring, no fucking way I’d leave it at home. Oh, and yeah, I said boyfriend. Usually when guys talk about their ‘partner’, that’s what they’re talking about, in case you wanted a clue, because I know you don’t have one.” Zach said, slowly, not caring if he was rude.

Luckily, if he was rude, it seemed to go right over their meat heads and oblivious to any offense they were giving, Mike pressed on, his face lighting up in understanding. “Oh… OH! You’re gay! I didn’t know you were queer man, I’m sorry. No wonder you weren’t interested in any of the talent that was all over you! And I’m pretty sure Leslie thought she was like a fucking mutant or something, she did everything but suck your dick to get your attention. Hahaha, oh man, that’s hilarious. Leslie spent all night riding a gay guy’s pole and getting turned down!” He said, laughing so hard he had to wipe a tear from his eye, and then taking a big swig of his drink. Beside him, Kenny was laughing too. “She thought it was her but it was this guy’s problem the whole time. Fucking hilarious!” He crowed.

Zach sat there for a moment, not quite believing the words that were coming out of this ignorant asshole’s mouth. Did he just say that being gay was Zach’s problem? Was he serious? Beside him, Cody and Paul had stopped their conversation and were listening, also stunned, and Leslie was looking dumbly between them all, obviously having missed the discussion. Zach was figuring out his next move, weighing the potential drawbacks of punching this guy in the face against just bitching him out. Surprisingly, Cody stepped up in that moment and Zach remembered why he was friends with him to begin with.

“Hey man, that’s not cool. There’s no reason to act like such an ignorant asshole, you don’t even know Zach. Dial it back, dude.” Cody said sharply, and Zach couldn’t smile but he did nod his thanks to Cody and he found a new level of respect for his old friend. He might be an idiot sometimes, but at least he was loyal. And he wasn’t a bigot.

“Thanks, man.” Zach said to Cody, and then turned sharply back to Mike and Kenny, Leslie now following their conversation as well.

“Hey man, chill out, I’m not homophobic, I just don’t know too many queer people, and it was kind of hilarious how Leslie was all over your junk and she never had a shot.” Mike said and Zach rolled his eyes.

“First of all, I’m not “queer”, so right off, that’s offensive.” Zach said, tapping his fingers like he was itemizing a list. “Not everyone likes using labels, and I don’t, but if you need one you can call me bisexual. It’s not black and white, you can like both guys and girls. Maybe you’ve heard of it. I’m not gay, but my boyfriend identifies that way. The reason I wasn’t hooking up with girls is not because I’m gay, it’s because I’m fucking TAKEN, and happily fucking taken at that, for over a year and a half. So you’re right, Leslie had no shot. But not because I’m gay.” Zach finished his diatribe expecting to find Cody’s gym buddies apologetic, but no such luck. They didn’t seem to understand they were being talked down to.

Then Kenny’s eyes widened and he spoke. “So you’re not gay, but you’re dating Frankie Grande, right? That’s where I know you from? I remember reading about you guys in some magazine!” He said, pointing rudely straight at Zach’s chest. “Shit man, I remember it all now! So you were like, straight, but you gave it all up for some glittery dick?” Kenny asked and Zach ran his hands through his hair in frustration. Was this guy for real? Zach considered leaving right then, but decided that if he stayed and talked it out, he might be able to educate a few ignorant idiots and make the world a better place. So Zach rolled up his sleeves and rested his elbows on the table, leaning towards the sloppy meatheads.

“Look, I fell in love with a person, not his gender. I love him as a person and it doesn’t fucking matter that he has a dick. Actually, it’s pretty awesome that he does because it’s nice not to have to do the fucking all the time, you know?” Zach asked, then took a sip of his drink. Putting it down, he continued, his audience seemingly rapt. “Sexuality isn’t black and white, it turns out it’s super grey. He is the funniest and smartest person I’ve ever met, and those are the two most important things to me. And I would spend the rest of my life with him if he asked me.” Zach finished, proud of himself, and not expecting them to say anything more on the subject. But some people just couldn’t get the hint.

“You say you’re not gay, but you’re in love with and get dicked down by a guy. But I don’t get it. You’re like, the most normal bro ever?” Kenny asked, confused and Zach’s knuckles cracked as he tightened his fingers into a fist. And Zach thought his filter was bad? He wasn’t even close to this guys’ level. Zach tilted back his beer and drained the rest, then he slammed the glass down and wiped his mouth, exhaling deeply. He was ready to punch this guy but he was going to give it another chance.

He spoke very slowly and clearly as he gave it one more shot. “A bro can like dick, and still be a bro. Being a bro isn’t defined by who you fuck, it’s how you fucking act, dude. I was in a fucking frat! I majored in partying and girls. And I banged plenty of chicks in College, but I just didn’t fucking care about them. They couldn’t keep my attention. But then I met Frankie and everything changed. It took me a while to come to terms with the fact that I was into a dude, but when I did, and I gave in, my life fucking changed for the better. Got it?” Zach asked, and while Mike and Kenny seemed to finally be catching on, Leslie seemed upset.

During the night, Leslie had been getting drunker and drunker, and by now, she was swaying in her seat. She looked pouty and petulant ever since it was revealed that Zach was gay. Even though he never said that, but that’s all they seemed to hear. “You’re too sexy to be gay.” She pouted. “It’s such a waste!!! Why are all the cute ones gay?” She whined, leaning over her cocktail and missing the straw a couple times before snagging it with her lips and taking a sloppy sip.

At that point, Zach was ready to get up and leave. Fuck this shit, fuck these people. He didn’t want to come out tonight, anyways. Frankie had to be done by now, and he did his part by coming out with Cody. Hadn’t even had a half bad time until this conversation had started.

“Leslie, I don’t think my BOYFRIEND would think I’m a waste. I’m sorry I’m a waste because I won’t bang you tonight, but honestly that’s as much your fault as mine. If I wasn’t with Frankie, I totally would have banged you because you’re smoking hot. But only if you didn’t talk. Because I’ll tell you what a waste is, it’s a waste to have a personality like yours when your body is so fucking hot.” Zach said, and with that, he rose and slid out of the booth. Turning to the group, he finished. “Well guys, I’m going to be honest. This night sucked ass and I hope to never see you guys ever again. Have a nice life. Or don’t. I don’t really give a fuck.” He said, and turned around, walking away from the table.

He didn’t turn around to look, but her heard Cody and Paul yelling at their basic friends and they rushed up behind Zach to follow him out. Good. Zach smiled, approving of his friends’ loyalty once again. Maybe he’d have to hang out with the Calafiores more often if this is what they were like when push came to shove. Loyal friends were hard to come by. “Oh my god, bro!” Paul moaned as they walked out the door and it was quieter and easier to talk. “I had no idea they were like that. Who knew people could be so ignorant? I’m cutting all of them out of Cody and my gym partnership first thing Monday morning if they don’t shape the fuck up. I don’t want to work with anyone that might offend the customers. Do you know how many gay clients we’ll probably get because of the modelling we do?” Paul added and Cody was nodding.

“I’m SO pissed they said that stuff to you, Zach. I’m sorry, bro.” Cody added quickly, his voice a little slurred but his words genuine.

“It’s ok man, you didn’t know. I was having a pretty good time actually, until they opened their mouths at the end. It probably didn’t help that they were all hammered.” Zach added, trying to be reasonable about it now that he was out of the situation. No reason to get upset and worked up, he told himself. It was over, they were gone, and Paul and Cody were right in line.

“Yeah but drunk is no excuse. I’m drunk but I’m not a homophobic asshole all of a sudden.” Paul spoke quickly, not wanting to let them off the hook.

“I don’t know about homophobic. More like homoignorant maybe. I didn’t feel the hate, just the stupidity.” Zach said, wanting to be fair.

“Homomoronic more like it.” Cody added, and they all laughed a little.

 

 

When Zach got home it was half past two and he was beat. Even the dogs were too tired to get up and greet him. He quietly made his way to the bedroom and found Frankie fast asleep, curled around Tiger, whose mouth was hanging open, his long tongue lolling out. Frankie was sleeping deeply and he was dreaming, his eyes twitching behind the lids. Zach sighed and smiled as suddenly all the stress from the evening rolled off of him. He stood there, watching Frankie and Tiger sleep so peacefully for a few minutes, wondering what they were dreaming about, before turning and heading to the bathroom where he brushed his teeth for a minute or eight.

Zach was going to go get a glass of water for his bedside table when he noticed that Frankie had left one of the counter of the bathroom, with a little note that said ‘drink this or you’ll regret it in the morning’. Zach smiled and picked up the glass. Frankie was always taking care of him. Fuck, how did he get so lucky? Zach truly didn’t know, but he had and now he just had to make sure he never lost it. He drained the glass in a few large gulps. It actually felt great, Frankie always knew best. Zach hadn’t been hammered, but he’d been drinking various sugary alcoholic drinks all night and Frankie was right, he’d have a huge headache in the morning if he didn’t get some water into him now. Zach refilled the glass and set it on the counter, intending to take it with him, then used the bathroom and washed his hands really quick before heading for Frankie and bed.

He carefully slid in next to Frankie and Tiger on their king sized bed. There wasn’t much room, but there was enough, and he tried not to wake them, but of course he failed and Frankie stretched a little and made an adorable sleepy noise and Zach took that sign of wakefulness as invitation to curl himself around Frankie and nuzzling his face into the back of his head lightly. “Welcome home, baby. Did you have fun?” Frankie asked, still half asleep.

“Not exactly. Cody’s partners were a bunch of uneducated, basically homophobic dickheads.” Zach mumbled. Frankie tried to roll around so he could look at Zach, but Zach held him in place. It felt too nice being the big spoon right now. Usually Zach liked to be spooned but sometimes he liked the feeling it gave him, to protect his little Frankie. God, he was so precious. Zach knew he always got like this when he was drunk, all sentimental, but he really did just feel such terror at the thought of Frankie leaving him. What would he do? This man was his everything.

“What? Really?” Frankie asked, his voice sounding upset. “I’m so sorry baby, some people are like that, that sucks that Cody’s partners are.”

“They kept calling me gay and queer and they basically thought it was all just a big joke. I don’t think they were haters but they just kept spewing idiotic bullshit and eventually I left.” Zach said, not really wanting to relive it. He kind of lived in a bubble of acceptance, these days. He didn’t have much exposure to people that weren’t educated and tolerant. It had been a bit of a wake up call tonight.

“Anyone assuming anyone’s sexuality isn’t even worth a second thought. It’s none of their business! People like that just make an ass out of themselves and they’re the ones that look stupid. I’m sorry you had to deal with that, baby. I thought you’d have fun.” Frankie sounded upset, so Zach pulled him tighter and kissed his neck.

“It’s ok babe, I did. It was just at the end, so it barely ruined anything. I just wish you were there. But it wasn’t your fault, so don’t think like that. But I could have used you because I just kinda blew up Zachattack style and I know you would have cut those bitches down so much better than I would have.” Zach said, and Frankie giggled and twisted around to face Zach.

“Yeah I can honestly say I don’t miss Zachattack. He kinda scares me.” Frankie said, smiling and Zach shrugged in a ‘what are you gonna do?’ kind of way.

“But I think I handled it pretty well I think. I told them about how much I love you. Then I told them to fuck off.” Zach said, smiling and then forcibly turning Frankie around so he could regain his position as big spoon. Frankie made a swooning noise, and then wiggled back into Zach’s embrace, grinding his ass against Zach in a suggestive manner. Good. That was exactly what Zach had on his mind right now. It had been way too long since he topped and tonight he had a little aggression to let loose.

“Hearing you talk about defending your love for me is kinda turning me on right now. I’m not gonna lie.” Frankie said, grinding back into Zach again. Zach smiled predatorily. It was like Frankie read his mind.

“Well in that case…” Zach said, reaching around and moving his hand down Frankie’s chest, down his happy trail, and finding that Frankie was sleeping very much in the nude. Good, Zach thought. Less work for him. Tonight may have had its ups and downs, but at least it was ending on a high note.

 

TO BE CONTINUED. ..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and kudos if you want more! The fandom is in upheaval and we need to know if the demand is still there for cute romantic zankie fic!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry about the delay!!! @loving-teenage-fandoms got me her outline ages ago and I’ve been so busy! But here we are at chapter 3, and the plot is moving forward. They’re on the eve of the flight to Florida where Frankie is planning the ultimate proposal. 
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks to my bestie @JenPrescott19 for coming up with her amazing ideas, this story is a true collaboration and it’s so much fun to write with her. I’ll try to be quicker next time, Jen, I promise!
> 
> Let me know how you guys liked it! I'd love to hear your comments.

About a week later, the trip was planned, he had picked up the final copy of the ring, and Frankie thought that he had everything ready to go for the trip to Florida for his big proposal. He was going to have to try to get a little bit of time away from Zach in Florida for final preparations, but he was prepared for that. He had pulled some strings and gotten a day pass for Zach and Peyton to play a round at Pebble Beach. He’d arranged for a helicopter ride to bring them there and back, the day of the proposal. 

It was a little over the top, sure. But this was all going to be over the top. Frankie didn’t do things any other way. And it had always been Zach’s dream to play that course, so he made it happen. In general Frankie could care less about golf, but even he had to admit he was almost jealous, the course was so beautiful with the ocean and the cliffs and the forest. And all the famous pros had played there. It had been Frankie’s intent to keep the golf trip as much of a secret as everything else, but in the end he was so bursting with excitement for Zach that he couldn’t help but tell him.

Plus, after a few days of stoic silence where Zach had seemed determined to be positive or at least neutral, he had gone back to moaning about the trip to Florida non-stop. So, in an effort to make him feel better and more excited about the trip (and not to mention to shut him up), Frankie had spilled the beans. Well, it had worked maybe a little too well. Zach was positively enthusiastic about the trip now and instead of moaning constantly, he just couldn’t stop talking about golf. Which, of course, was Frankie’s favourite subject. Not.

In fact, at that exact moment, Zach had been droning on about golf from their walk-in closet for minutes while he got dressed and to be honest, Frankie had tuned him out as soon as he began talking. It was hard for him to focus on conversations about wind drag and PGA stats at the best of times, but these days, the wedding and proposal filled Frankie’s thoughts. He hoped he got everything perfect, and that Zach felt it was as perfect as Frankie wanted it to be. Because this man he loved so much, he was perfect (despite his questionable fashion sense and rants about sports ball games all the time). And he deserved the perfect proposal, and the perfect wedding.

“Babe?” Zach called, interrupting Frankie’s thoughts. Shit, Frankie had no idea what he had been talking about. 

“Yeah?” Frankie asked.

“Did you hear me?”

“Sorry, I, uh, got distracted…” Frankie said, turning his head away from the mirror where he was doing his makeup and towards the closet where Zach was emerging in the dress clothes Frankie had picked out for him. Damn, he cleaned up well. Definitely red carpet worthy. Frankie bit his lip, distracted again for a much different reason this time as he imagined taking those clothes off of him later this evening. 

“Uh, I’m up here.” Zach said, his tone sassy and his hands on his hips as he noticed Frankie checking him out, his eyes lingering on the sexy way his pants were hanging at his hipbones. Frankie smiled guiltily and shrugged.

“You look so good in that, all I can think about is taking it off you. Which is weird, because I like how it looks on you so much.” Frankie smiled, and Zach returned it, crossing the room purposefully and wrapping his arms around Frankie, who was careful not to let him mess up his hair. He had been working on it for the past hour. Considering they’d be doing press on the red carpet, he wanted it to be perfect.

“I don’t think it’s weird. I feel like that every day.” Zach said, squeezing him tight and then circling his hips. When Frankie felt their cocks touch, Zach pushed forward and then leaned back, grinding up and sending shuddering pleasure through Frankie that were doing nothing but fanning the flames of his desire. 

“Damnit, Zach!” Frankie complained as he pulled away and tried to turn back to the mirror complete his makeup. They needed to leave soon, the red carpet started soon and being Ari and Sean’s big fragrance launch, Frankie needed to be on time. He could see Zach smirking through the mirror, and he also saw that those fitted flannel dress pants were decidedly tighter now, the outline of his erection as plain as day. Frankie shook his head and chuckled. It was always the same with Zach. He loved to get Frankie all turned on right before they had to be somewhere. He just loved mischief. He was like Dennis the Menace, always getting into trouble and never caring. And Frankie knew that he loved nothing more than to tease him throughout the night, to get Frankie nice and pissed off while he couldn’t do anything about it. Because then when they were finally behind closed doors, Zach would get what he always wanted. Dominant Frankie. Well, he’d probably get that later tonight at this rate. But not now, because now was for Ari.

“What? I didn’t do anything.” Zach said in his lying voice. Frankie rolled his eyes in the mirror but continued to smirk as he finished up the glitter around his eyes. Perfect. When he turned to face Zach he forced himself to ignore the erection and look at his face. 

“Are you ready?” Frankie asked and Zach moved towards the mirror, leaned in to check himself out, and then looked back at Frankie. 

“Yep, ready as I’ll ever be. But you know I hate this stuff. I love Ari and Sean, and I’m so happy they got back together and the fragrance is so cool, I just don’t know why I need to be there. No one cares about me, they’re all just going to want to talk to you.” Zach said, trying to sound casual but Frankie gave him a sympathetic pout anyways. He knew that Zach was uncomfortable in live public situations like this. He never could seem to help himself from slipping back into Zachattack, and he would inevitably say something that he would regret later. Sometimes things he didn’t ever really mean or believe. 

“Awwww, precious. You’ll be fine, I promise.” Frankie said, cupping Zach’s cheek with his hand before sliding it back to caress his ear comfortingly. And at that moment, Lupin and Tiger bounded through the door, the golden doodle chasing the lab who was carrying a toy duck and they were both distracted enough from Zach’s worry that they laughed about the dogs, finished getting ready, and headed towards the elevator.

“Does it ever get easier? Will I ever be good at this?” Zach asked a little while later, as they got into the car where Miguel was waiting. The worry was back in his voice, and Frankie had to stop himself from frowning because he had to be reassuring. 

“Well I think you’re already good at this. Just think about it like your radio show, you’re amazing live.” Frankie reasoned. It was true. Sure Zach was a little unpredictable during interviews, and he occasionally put his foot in his mouth, but he was funny, and entertaining. 

“On the radio I’m sitting in a little room and I can pretend no one is listening. I know it’s delusional, but—“

“Hashtag delusional!” Frankie interrupted, smiling, and Zach chuckled. “Stop worrying, you’ll be great. But to answer your question, I don’t know. Ari has been in the spotlight for years and she’s still not used to it. She’s been texting me all day freaking out. She can slay concerts, but stick a microphone and camera in her face and she clams up.”

“I know, she texted me too. It didn’t help my nerves.” Zach said as they pulled out into the street. It wasn’t far to the event.

“The only real interview we have to do is one with Katie for Entertainment tonight at 6, and you know and love her. We can walk past all the other interviewers if you want.” Frankie said, but he could tell Zach wasn’t sold yet.

“I wish that made me feel better. And anyways you should be getting as much press as you can, we don’t want to skip the others…” Zach said, his face thoughtful. 

“Well, then I’ll tell you a secret.” Frankie said, turning his head to catch Zach’s eyes and folding his hands between his. Zach held the eye contact, waiting for Frankie to finish. Frankie smiled before continuing. “If you have someone there who loves you, to squeeze your hand when you’re nervous and whisper encouragement in your ear, it’s a little easier.” Zach looked conflicted for a moment and then sighed. 

“You’re right. If you’re there with me, I guess it’s not so bad. You know I just worry that, like, my filter… or, lack thereof… I just tend to say the dumbest things in interviews. I just don’t want to ruin anything, or make you mad or embarrassed, or ruin Ari’s day…” Zach rambled, rubbing the back of his neck in worry. Somewhere in the middle of him speaking, Frankie had adopted a deadpan stare as he waited for Zach to be done. 

“Rose, you’re not going to ruin anything. Now stop it. We’re almost here. If you don’t snap out of it you’re going to look sulky. I know what could bring a smile to that face I love…” Frankie said, smirking, and Zach’s eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened as he felt Frankie’s hands rubbing him through his pants. 

“Frankiiiieee!!!” He whined, twisting away. “Do you know how thin these pants are? Everyone will see my hard on! We’re almost there!” Frankie smiled devilishly. This was usually Zach’s game, but Frankie could see how fun it could be. 

“Well I’d say you have about 60 seconds to get that under control before we have to step out onto that gorgeous purple carpet to support my sister and Sean. Unless you want them all to know how MUCH you love me?” Frankie asked, one eyebrow quirked. At this Zach laughed, and Frankie thought he saw him loosen up a little. And that was good, because he should be happy. They should be having fun. Ariana and Sean had created a beautiful unisex fragrance, a fragrance that came very close to only having Ariana’s name on the bottle. But Sean had helped create it before their break-up, and now that they were back together and happier than ever, it was even more cause for celebration. ‘Best Mistake’ it was called, and Frankie couldn’t be more proud. 

As Miguel pulled up to the carpet when it was their turn, Zach led the way and then turned around and held out a hand to help Frankie out of the car. Cameras flashed all around, and there were people milling around on the red carpet. They spent the next 20 minutes making their way through carpet, posing for pictures, Frankie doing most of the talking, but Zach was doing great as well. Frankie felt Zach loosen up beside them as they went. And then it was the time Frankie had agreed upon with Katie Krause, so he took Zach by the hand and made apologetic gestures to interviewers he didn’t get to.

Entertainment Tonight had a branded section and tent on the carpet that they were pulling in the more famous guests in to discuss their outfit and the fragrance among other things. Frankie was already holding out his arms as he walked inside the tent, expecting to see Katie. But instead, there was some guy in a suit that Frankie didn’t recognize. “Ah, and here is Frankie Grande!” He drawled to the camera, a plastic smile plastered across his face. Frankie didn’t know who the hell this guy was. He had talked to Katie just two days prior and she had said she’d be there herself. He wondered if she was sick, though he didn’t have much time to recover. The cameras were on. “Frankie, good to meet you, Rick Rodriguez, ET on the Red Carpet.” He said, patting Frankie on the shoulder. “Of course Frankie is brother of the woman of the hour, Ariana Grande. And your date?” The man asked, and Frankie quirked an eyebrow and looked over at Zach, who looked like he was completely confused. 

“Well this is Zach—“ Frankie started, and he saw recognition flash in the host’s eyes.

“Yes! Zach, from Big Brother. You guys were the legendary bromance, Zrankie! How are things going with you these days?” He asked, the glazed look on his face completely oblivious. Frankie heard Zach snort next to him, his arm moved to drape around his shoulders and he leaned in.

“How’s Zrankie? Well we’re pretty bro-tastic.” Zach said, and then giggled, turning and burying his face in Frankie’s shoulder before lifting it up again. 

“Yeah, Zrankie’s never been better.” Frankie echoed, smiling. And then Rick was holding his earpiece, concentrating, a look of embarrassment washing over his face. He was obviously being corrected by his producers and realizing that maybe a quick google search would be better next time, rather than trying to off of shaky 2 year old memories. 

“OH, oh my goodness. I’m so sorry you guys. I just got word that you guys are a couple? I’m so sorry, I had to take over for Katie last minute when she fell ill. I know she’s a friend of yours.” He seemed so worried about his misstep, but Zach spoke up.

“No worries, I guess you could say he’s my bro. He’s like, my bro that I love and kiss, and like, you know, like a brofriend. Yeah, we’re brofriends.” Zach replied, trying to save the reporter but sounding a little dumb in the process. “Isn’t he hot? I have the hottest bro…” He said, adding emphasis on the last word to tease the poor guy, who was now the shade of a ripe tomato. Nonetheless, he tried to push on. But when he spoke, Frankie wished he would have just ended the interview out of embarrassment rather than continue.

“So I’m hearing you guys have been together almost two years. That’s really impressive. Any wedding bells in the future?” He asked the question like it was nothing, like anyone would be ready to answer such a loaded question at any time at the drop of a hat. Frankie tensed immediately, his mind racing. How the hell was he supposed to answer that? Katie never would have asked a question like that! So not only was there a microphone shoved in Frankie’s face, waiting for an answer, but Zach was watching him like a hawk, Frankie could feel it. He swallowed deeply and tried to answer the question. 

“Uh, umm, yeah, I mean, I love Zach, I have since the first week on Big Brother. So, we’ll see. I can definitely see myself spending the rest of my life with this loveable lunatic, so yeah, I mean, if that leads to—we’re just enjoying every day right now and loving life, and there’s, you know, no rush…” Frankie managed to stutter out, his stomach dropping more at every awkward word. Thankfully, Zach stepped in and saved the day. Speaking boisterously in true Zachattack style, he leaned in to the microphone and spoke loudly.

“There’s NO rush. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be wedding bells in the future!” He spoke the words in a sing song voice, ever the showman, and Frankie smiled widely at him. “But for now I’m just happy spending my time with him and letting him entertain me 24/7. And I could definitely see myself do that with him forever. Plus, he’s like, a total smokeshow. Who doesn’t love a dancer’s body?” He asked, waggling his eyebrows lewdly. Frankie laughed, and composed himself back into his own on screen bubbly character 

“Awwww, babe, you’re gonna make me blush!” Then Frankie smiled widely and fluttered his eyelashes, holding out his cheek for Zach to kiss. He quickly complied and Frankie kicked up one foot behind him. Then, turning back to the camera. “We’re totally in love, things are great. Everything in time.” And suddenly, Frankie felt a little better. He thought he had rebounded reasonably well, thanks in no small part to Zach. And that wasn’t lost on Frankie, that Zach was able to do that for him despite them both knowing that the topic of marriage was a big sore spot right now. Frankie wished he could go back in time and keep that out of the conversation but being that it was already done and there was nothing they could do about it, he thought they had handled it well. Luckily, the next question was a lot easier to field.

“And what do you think of Ariana and Sean’s new fragrance, ‘My Best Mistake?’” Frankie sighed a breath of relief as the topic was onto what it should be on, the reason they were all here today. 

“Oh I love it, it’s so amazing. I’m so proud of what they’ve accomplished, both on their own and as a couple. I couldn’t be happier for them.” Frankie gushed. And Zach leaned into the mic again.

“It’s the best! It’s going to be the scent of the summer, I’m telling you. It smells like bergamot, and pineapple and, well I don’t know, but I know it’s amazing and Frankie and I are probably going to buy like 100 bottles of it. It’s honestly that good.” Zach said, his over the top salesman pitch making Frankie chuckle. He was such a character. Nearby one of the event staff held out a bottle to Zach, which he took and held up like he was a host on QVC. “Seriously, everyone should go buy my future bro and sister in law’s fragrance.” Zach pitched. “If you don’t, you’re a frootloop dingus.” Zach said, and Frankie was laughing so hard that he was hanging from Zach’s arm to help him stay up. Then the camera panned back to Rick and he finished up as Frankie playfully swatted Zach’s silly “frootloop dingus” ass. He couldn’t believe he’d said that. God, he loved him.

“Well you heard it there, Ariana and Sean’s ‘Best Mistake’, but it or be a Frootloop Dingus… whatever that means.” Rick laughed, and then Frankie and Zach were out of the tent and headed towards the hall. The evening, despite that one little hiccup, was wonderful, and Frankie was sure the launch would be a success.

 

Later that evening, Frankie and Zach had gone out dinner with Ari and Sean to celebrate the successful launch, and he was recounting the story of the clueless ET reporter with many flourishes and embellishments. “This guy didn’t have the slightest idea who the hell we were, other than I was your brother. I mean he called us a bromance!” Frankie, ever the story teller waited for everyone at the table to react correctly (snickering laughter) before continuing. “I mean, I haven’t heard that term in such a long time!” He said incredulously, garnering more laughs.

“Well, we’re kind of bros.” Zach added, obviously playing devil’s advocate. He loved to argue, even if he disagreed with his own argument. 

“Darling, I was never your bro. Despite what you used to say, hands definitely did wander!” Frankie retorted, laughing.

“Yeah, that’s not very bro-like.” Ariana added.

“Well, maybe I gave you a bro-job or two, that just what really good bros do!” Zach argued, now very obviously joking. Sean was sitting quietly, chuckling, until now.

“Yo, so we’re bros, now I’m worried. I don’t want you getting any ideas about no bro-jobs, okay?” And Zach snorted while taking a sip of his drink, causing him to break into a laughing coughing fit. 

“Okay, okay, joking aside, that dingus could have done with a little research before looking like an idiot and making everyone uncomfortable. I’m surprised he even knew where he was at.” Zach added, blushing. 

The topic had moved on from there, but later when they were done their meal, now having drinks in the VIP lounge on the roof, Ariana brought it back up. “I’m so happy that you guys were able to come today, I know you leave for Florida tomorrow. You’ll give Mom and Nonna a big hug and kiss for me? I wish they could have been here today too.” 

“Of course, Starry.” Frankie said, smiling, reverting back to the nickname he had called her as a child. He used to tell her from such a young age that she was born to be a star. How right he had been. She smiled, then frowned.

“I’m sorry you had to put up with that awkward interview. Do you want me to say something?” She asked.

“No, I love Katie and trust her, I don’t want to cause them trouble. It’s fine, it makes a funny story.” Frankie said sincerely. He loved funny stories.

“Yeah, well even after all this time I’m not used to all this press craziness. But today was worth it, I’m actually in love with this perfume. I’m not saying that, I will actually wear it I think. Is that weird? What do you think babe?” She asked, turning to Sean. Sean smiled as he leaned over and left a quick peck on her lips. 

“No way babe, Best Mistake is the best. We didn’t make some shitty scent. You should definitely wear it. I’m so glad you got them to change the branding back to have both of our names. I like it being put out there that we’re together.” He said and Frankie thought he saw Ariana glow even brighter. They were still in the honeymoon stage after getting back together and Frankie thought if he didn’t hurry up and propose to Zach, Ari and Sean would be beating them down the aisle. “The real best mistake was the one you made when you took me back.” Sean added and Ari’s smile widened even more, fanning herself theatrically and leaning in for another kiss. 

“Do you guys remember when you wrote that song together?” Frankie asked, smiling as he watched them, reaching out his hand to Zach who took it in an instant. 

“Oh my God, how could I forget?” Ari asked.

“Yeah I remember, and I especially remember Frank making sure I kept my damn hands to myself, too. Damn, man, you’re a good older brother, you know? I’ve always seen that, how you take care of Ari like that. Seriously man, I appreciate it.” Sean said, smiling and leaning across the giant pretentious crystal coffee table between them, holding out his hand for Frankie to slap. 

“Awwww, no thanks necessary. She’s my baby sister, I’ll do anything for her including protect her til the day I die. Whether she likes it or not!” Frankie added, smiling widely and Ariana was returning it. 

“I love you too, big brother! Hey, can you go with me to get a drink from the bar?” She asked sweetly. Frankie found that odd but he had just finished saying he would do anything for her so he couldn’t exactly say no. 

“Yeah, sure.” He said, puzzled but nonetheless he got up and walked with Ari to the bar. When they were there, Ari turned towards Frankie and thumped him (playfully, but hard!) on the chest, pushing him backwards lightly. 

“HOW. COULD. YOU. NOT. TELL. ME. YOU. WERE. PROPOSING. TO. ZACH!?” She yelled in a hushed voice, slapping him with each word. “When were you planning on telling me? On your wedding day?” Then, probably at the shocked and confused look on Frankie’s face, she explained. “I heard some of the details from Mom already. She thought I already knew. *cough* *cough*” She added accusingly. 

Frankie honestly didn’t know why he hadn’t told her sooner. He guessed he had been so wrapped up in the plans, so nervous, and he had wanted it to be a surprise for everyone. But as soon as he told his mom, he should have told Ari too. They were family. “Ok, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. But now that you know I could really use your help. I’m proposing to Zach on the anniversary of the day that I first told him that I was in love with him in the Big Brother house.” Frankie said, feeling a large load come off of his chest.

“Awwwwww!!!” Ari said, slapping Frankie again. Seriously, Frankie didn’t think she knew how strong she was. It was starting to hurt. 

“Yeah. I remember it was such a big deal for me, because I meant it. I was so nervous to tell him, but it was such an emotional week that I felt like I just had to. Luckly, he said it back! And he meant it, too, even if he didn’t mean it in the same way I did at that point. I don’t know, he’s still confused about how he felt back then, but he does now and that day is just so special to me. It was the start of everything.” He finished, he and Ariana both trying to fight the tears that wanted to fall and ruin their makeup. She was fanning her eyes trying to stop it. 

“Damnit, Frankie. I was mad and now your’e making me cry. Of course I’ll help you with anything you need. Just let me know. I’m so happy you found your soulmate, Frankie. Even if he IS Zach Rance.” She said, teasing, and Frankie laughed and wiped away a tear. 

“My Lunatic.” Frankie replied, and they both hugged and returned to the table, drinks in hand. 

 

Zach and Frankie’s flight left early the next morning so Zach was so glad that Frankie had packed all the bags and gotten everything ready before hand. That meant that Zach got to sleep in until the last possible minute, at which point he rolled out of bed, threw on some sweats (designer –of course) and a sweater, said goodbye to the dogs who would be cared for by their housekeeper, and stumbled his way behind Frankie who led the was leading the way towards the car.

By some stroke of Manhattan luck, they made amazing time and arrived at the airport and got their boarding passes with enough time to stop at the Starbucks and get caffeinated. “I can’t believe we are actually going to Florida.” Said Zach with what he hoped was a cute pout, but may have just been sulky. Frankie didn’t say anything but gave him a patronizing sympathetic look, his eyes twinkling. “Don’t look at me like that, I’m allowed to be grumpy, I just checked my Weather Network app. It says Florida is hotter and wetter than a sumo wrestler’s armpit.” Zach retorted, garnering a smile and a snort from Frankie who was sipping his latte. 

Thinking he was on a roll, Zach decided to continue. “Seriously, though, July? I can’t believe we’re going in July. I mean, July? I’m not going to lie, you are SO lucky you’re so hot and so amazing in bed. There’s no way in hell I’d do this for just anyone.” Zach said, one eyebrow raised as he stared Frankie down, who was now smiling widely. 

“I swear, you are such a spoiled bottom it’s not even funny anymore.” Frankie said, making Zach snort on his coffee. This made him smile wider. “But we are going to have such an unforgettable and amazing time in Florida. I promise.” He said, reaching out across the table to take Zach’s hand and pull it up to his lips, laying a gentle kiss on his ring finger. Now Zach KNEW he must be going wedding crazy, because he was reading meaning in to everything. No way he meant that the way Zach wished he’d meant it. Maybe he needed a break with his family after all. 

When they were done their drinks, they made their way to security and through the first call line-up. Zach had been lost in his thoughts, thinking about his earlier worry about going to Florida. He had been totally (and hopefully irrationally) worried that Frankie had been taking him to Florida to break up with him. But the signals he was sending today were not that of breaking up, so while Zach felt so good about that, he was also confused. He was lost in his thoughts as he took off his shoes and belt, placing his keys and wallet into the little tray and his carry-on bag onto the xray conveyor. 

He made it through security without an alarm going off and he stood there, still trying to work out what was going on with Frankie, when he heard the alarm go off next to him. It was the baggage xray, and as he looks over, he sees them pulling his bag off of the line. “Sir, is this your luggage?” The lady in the blue uniform asked tersely, like he was some asshole for holding her up. He knew he was standing there, his jaw slack like an idiot, but he was confused. What could be in his bag that would set off an alarm? He and Frankie were pros at travelling. 

“Uh, yeah, that’s mine.” Zach said, stepping towards the lady as Frankie made his way through security behind him. Zach gave him a worried, confused look and then returned his attention to the security officer. 

“Sir, do you have any items or weapons in your bag that you would like to disclose?” She asked as if she had asked the same question a hundred thousand times before.

“Umm, not that I know of.” Zach said, completely honest. 

“Sir, are you aware of airline rules and regulations pertaining to banned substances that may not be carried on to the aircraft?” She asked. Now Frankie was next to Zach, just as confused as he was.

“Yes, I mean, of course. I don’t know what it is, I’m sorry.” Zach stammered. What the hell? Were they going to miss their flight? Get arrested? Had someone planted something in his bag knowing it would be found by security? Was he a part of some sort of drug smuggling operation.

“Sir are you aware that containers containing more than 8 ounces of liquid are against airport regulations and must be checked?”

“Umm, yeah, I’m not an idiot. I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about, we checked those bags twice. Officer we have a flight to catch, can you tell me what the problem is?” Zach said, now getting an attitude himself. He could only hold out for so long when someone was acting bitchy with him. 

“Well then you won’t mind if I open it up and look around, Sir?” She asked causing Zach to roll his eyes.

“Go ahead but you won’t find anything in there, it’s probably your machine.” He said, his patience running out. It was bad enough he had to go to Florida, now he had to deal with this bullshit. 

“Sir, there is no need to cop an attitude with me. Just doing my job.” She said as she unzipped the top and started rifling through the bag. When she began to pull out his Tom Ford travel pouch, Zach felt Frankie’s fingers tighten around his arm like a vice.

“Oh my fucking God.” He heard Frankie hiss under his breath. Zach’s head snapped towards Frankie and he searched his face. He looked scared shitless, all the colour drained instantly. What the hell? 

As the pouch was unzipped, Frankie’s grip got tighter. Then the officer (her name was Linda) pulled out a tiny ornate bottle. “Well, sir, I think I found the problem.” She said as she examined the bottle, and muttered “It’s all in French” as she tried to figure out what it was. All the while, Zach was watching Frankie get whiter and whiter. Finally, she seemed to have found what she was looking for as she looked up at them, her sardonic expression very superior feeling. “Liquids of all types over 8oz are forbidden from carry-on luggage and must be checked. Even anal lube.” She said, shooting an eyebrow up and regarding the two men. Zach felt himself flush crimson with total embarrassment and he wanted to stomp on Frankie’s foot next to him. What had he been thinking? Zach was mortified. “Sir, I’ll have to confiscate this.” She said without apology, but Zach had lost all trace of his attitude and he was nodding his head vigorously as he struggled to get his shoes on quickly so they could get the hell out of there. 

“Uhhh…” He said.

“Of course, officer, I am so sorry, that’s my fault. I thought I had put that travel pouch in the other suitcase. Can we go?” He clarified, and she reluctantly let them on their way.

As they walked quickly towards the gate, Zach tried to keep up with Frankie who was determined not to look him in the eye. He looked both amused and horrified, and Zach couldn’t figure out which of the two he was feeling more strongly. But no question, both emotions were present. Frankie made it all the way to their seats in the front first-class section of the plane before he was finally cornered and Zach could get an answer. That wasn’t their normal brand of lube, he hadn’t even recognized the bottle. “Okay, spill.” Zach said, trying not to let a smile creep over his face yet. He was already seeing the humour in the situation.

“Zach, oh my God, I am so sorry! I thought I’d put that in the other suitcase!” Frankie seemed horrified and finally Zach laughed, leaning his head back against the plush seat’s head rest.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe I was just caught going through airport security with a bottle of fucking lube. How much gayer could we be?” Zach asked, giggling, and finally he worked a bit of a smile from his obviously stressed and guilt-ridden boyfriend. But then Frankie pouted.

“Do you think they’d give it back if I asked? What if I told them I was Ariana Grande’s brother?” Frankie mused, and Zach snorted. 

“Over a bottle of lube? If you want to join the mile high club I could suck your dick or something, I bet that counts.” Zach said, trying to be helpful. But Frankie was barely listening.

“Or I’ll get them to mail it to Florida express…”

“Helllllooooo I just made you an indecent proposal and you totally ignored me! What is the big deal? He asked, and the glazed look in Frankie’s eyes went away as he focused on Zach’s face.

“What? Oh I heard that. And don’t think I won’t make you do just that once we’re at cruising altitude. But no, I just, I spent a lot of money on that…” He said, causing Zach to quirk up an eyebrow.

“On lube?” He asked.

“It’s the best money can buy. From Paris. I paid $250 just for that one bottle.

“TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS?!” Zach felt his jaw drop. “For lube? What was it called?” 

“It translated roughly to ‘Boyfriend’s satisfaction’.” Frankie pouted. “I was going to use it on the night I pro--*cough*” Frankie cleared his throat suddenly. “On the night I planned to make this trip to Florida up to you. I just wanted to make it special.” He pouted again, and Zach felt his heart clench.

“Awww babe, it’s okay, I’m sure it will still be special. It will just be hot and special. And we can get more of that lube. Maybe they’ll overnight it if we pay extra. Who needs a couple hundred bucks anyways when I could have the best lube an asshole could ever ask for?” Zach asked, and Frankie giggled, leaning into Zach’s shoulder. 

“You know,” Zach whispered into Frankie’s ear, allowing his teeth to graze over the soft lobe there. “This boyfriend could still give you some satisfaction.” He thought he saw Frankie shudder at the breath and words in his ear, and Zach took a peek around and thinking it was reasonably safe, he reached out and palmed Frankie through his shorts. “You look stressed, do you need a massage, baby?” He asked innocently as he squeezed and rubbed relentlessly, feeling immense satisfaction as he felt the member growing harder and harder in his hand. 

“Zach I already got us into enough trouble.” Frankie whispered, though it sounded more like a moan to Zach who could care less about what everyone was thinking. 

“Fine, I’ll just leave my hand on your leg. That’s not illegal, is it?” Zach asked, and Frankie skeptically shook his head, agreeing that would be okay. So Zach casually draped his hand over his thigh, knowing full well the side of his pinky was pressed against the erection there. Frankie growled a little in frustration as he grabbed a magazine from his bag, trying to hide was Zach was so shamelessly displaying. This was Zach’s favourite game, touching Frankie inappropriately in public places. Seeing how much he could get away with. 

By the time the plane was in the air and the seatbelt signs were off, Frankie couldn’t sit still in his seat. Zach had been relentless in his teasing, and he only thought he got caught once, but the stewardess had just smirked and turned away, obviously amused. The second the lights dinged off, Frankie got to his feet. As he slid by Zach, who was sitting on the aisle, he gave him a sharp look, making sure he understood what was happening. Well, Zach didn’t need a reminder. He knew. He was in trouble. His favourite. 

He waited a minute before he casually got up and strolled towards the restroom at the end of the aisle. He opened the door slowly and stepped inside, his eyes immediately drawn in by the intense look on Frankie’s face. He quickly locked the door and then Frankie was on him. His kisses were deep and penetrating, his body pressing Zach’s against the wall tightly. When he pulled away they were both out of breath. “Fuck Zach, I don’t know why I put up with you.” He panted, and Zach smiled. 

“Because I give such good head?” He asked, tilting his head, smiling widely. Frankie’s face blazed heat and Zach thought he was going to ignite in the oxygen rich air of the airplane cabin right there. “You know, I’ve never sucked you off at 40,000 feet before…” He mused, and felt Frankie push his shoulders down, forcing him down onto his knees. He felt his own cock twitch in return, he loved when Frankie was a little rough like this. He settled on his knees and smiled up at Frankie, his fingers working Frankie’s shorts open on their own. 

“No, you haven’t.” Frankie said softly. Too softly. As he stroked Zach’s hair gently. A moment later his hard, beautiful erection sprang free, right in Zach’s face. “I love you, you know?” He said sweetly, as he stroked his hair, his fingers coming together at his earlobe for a light squeeze. And then the hands on his head weren’t soft anymore. They were insistent, as they pushed Zach’s face down and he shoved his cock deep into Zach’s eager waiting mouth. He let out a muffled groan as he did, and then added “Now suck my fucking cock, you bad boy, and don’t think I’m sucking yours after that. Your punishment begins now.” And Zach smiled around him as he heard the words and began sucking vigorously. Good, Zach thought, because what he really wanted right now, was to be fucked. 

And it wasn’t like they had anymore lube right now, anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Work is busy, I'm sorry about the wait! Let me know you forgive me by leaving kudos and comments ;) Plus I feel like Jen deserves it, after waiting for me for so long!!! lol jk love you guys thanks for reading. ...but comment. ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time has come to go to Florida! Zach is not happy about it. But if he can just get through the trip, Frankie is sure he will be in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is very long! So... I'm sorry? I loved Jen's outline so much that I may have gone a little crazy. I hope you guys like it! Jen and I are both working really hard on this, it's a story we really want to tell and give the most detail and effort we can. Thanks for waiting patiently for the update!

“What was that?” Zach asked, his eyes snapping open as the small bathroom in the airplane’s cabin shook around them. Below him, Frankie mostly ignored him, making only a dismissive ‘hmmmm?’ noise in response from the back of his throat. He continued to work his hand and lips in perfect unison, his tongue working in torturous circles. Up to a moment ago, it had been heavenly. But now… “Frankie, stop, it’s---“

“Just a bit of turbulence, love. Nothing to worry about.” Frankie murmured, running kisses up Zach’s shaft as he spoke. His eyes were lidded and he was obviously very aroused, as Zach had been, up until it had felt like the plane was going to be ripped from the sky. Fuck, Zach had almost forgotten how much he hated flying, it had been several months since he had been forced to leave New York. The City had everything, everything he could imagine, and it was the cultural hub of the entire country. There weren’t many reasons to leave, these days. But Frankie had insisted on this trip, and Zach had begrudgingly agreed. So now, here he was, having the start of a turbulence-induced panic attack while getting his dick sucked in the airplane bathroom. He was suddenly regretting giving in to this trip so easily.

Frankie waited a moment for the turbulence to subside, kissing Zach’s slowly softening dick before saying “See? All better. Now just relax and let me take care of you. You wanna get into the mile high club or not?” Frankie asked, smiling seductively up at Zach. Zach couldn’t help but smile back, and he closed his eyes and tried to let his mind drift back to that place it went when he wanted to come. Frankie resumed his skilled work, but Zach could tell he wasn’t as hard. He gritted his teeth and tensed his abs, trying to send blood back down there. It wasn’t that it didn’t feel good. Actually, it felt amazing. Frankie was probably the most gifted fellartist on the Earth. So much so that Zach had invented the word fellartist to describe how good Frankie was at giving head. 

Zach knew, Frankie’s skill would bring him back from that nervous edge the turbulence had caused so he readjusted his feet and leaned back against the wall, looking down at Frankie sucking and licking, and the sight was such a turn on, had always been such a turn on, that Zach felt himself harden again, immediately. Okay, that didn’t last long. 

After only a couple minutes of Zach trying to contain his moaning as Frankie brought him closer and closer to the edge, Zach felt that familiar pull in his balls and his core and he knew he was close to coming. He bit his lip to keep quiet, knowing there were passengers just on the other side of this wall, and was just about to spill over the edge into the point of no return when there was a loud noise and the cabin shook violently again. It was so bad that Zach fell sideways, and Frankie jolted forward, the action causing him to… “FUCK!” Zach screamed as Frankie’s jaw snapped, causing him to bite just a little too hard, both of their bodies stumbling as the plane shook alarmingly. 

Zach fell sideways onto the toilet and then he was simultaneously grabbing his sore cock that conflictingly felt good because he was so close to coming and also hurt like a bitch, and freaking out about why the turbulence hadn’t stopped yet. They continued to get jerked around as the cabin shook, Frankie bracing himself on Zach’s legs. “Shit baby I’m so sorry!” He cried, his face looking panicked. “Are you okay? Is it bad? Are you going to be able to…”

“It’s fine, Frankie, as long as this fucking plane doesn’t crash we’ll be fucking by the time we land. Or, we better be, after not-- God damn it, I don’t know what to feel right now. My balls are aching to burst but at the same time they want to practically retract into my body I hate turbulence so fucking much.” Zach whined, and Frankie cooed and petted his hair down.

“Oh baby, it’ll be okay, Daddy will take care of you.” Frankie said, though the huge rock of the plane as he said it did little to add credibility to his words. Something crashed outside the doors, too, like drinks had fallen off the food tray or something. Then suddenly, there was a ‘ding!’ and the seatbelt indicator light came on. Both Zach and Frankie stared at it for a moment in shock, then looked at each other. Shit. They both knew what that meant. Zach hurried to pull his shorts up, tucking his slightly sore self back into his boxer-briefs. A moment later there was a knock at the door.

“Sir? Are you in there?” The flight attendant asked, meekly at first. Zach and Frankie looked at each other in panic and didn’t know what to say. Was having sex in an airplane bathroom a punishable offense? Then the attendant knocked louder. “Sir, the seatbelt lights are on, I need you to return to your seat, please.” She was much less meek the second time. 

“Fuck, Frankiiiieee.” Zach whined in a whisper. 

“Uh, just a second!” Frankie said back in a very composed voice, and the plane shook again and Zach stumbled backwards, making a lot of noise as he did.

“Sir are you okay?” The flight attendant asked in response, obviously hearing the commotion from outside the door. 

“Just fine!” Frankie tried to sing, sounding cheerful. “I’m not, umm, feeling very well, can I stay in here?” Frankie asked.

“I’m sorry sir, I have to insist you return to your seat immediately. It is for your own safety, and I need to sit down as well.” She added, effectively making both Zach and Frankie feel guilty. Up until she added that, Zach had been considering making a stand and refusing to come out. They had originally planned on staggering their exits so that hopefully no one noticed. But there would be no getting around this. 

“Oh, Okay. I’m sorry. Just one moment.” Frankie said, and he gave Zach an apologetic look. “Don’t look at her, just walk casually like there’s nothing wrong.” He instructed, whispering in Zach’s ear. Then Frankie stood up straight, took a deep breath, and unengaged the lock on the door. He saw the panel switch from red to green and he slid the door sideways, stepping into the hallway and smiling at the flight attendant. Then he turned on his heel and headed towards their seat. Feeling his cheeks burn, Zach steeled himself for the awkwardness, and hurried along, catching up to Frankie just before they made it to their seats. He determinedly kept his eyes on his feet, avoiding the gaze of any of the other passengers.

Immediately after he sat down, the cabin shook violently for several seconds, and there was a general rumble of voices that rose in response, people commenting on the severity of the turbulence. He sat for a moment, gritting his teeth and trying to ride it out. The sensations in his body were killing him. He was horny, grumpy, his balls ached, his dick was sore, he was embarrassed, and he was fucking terrified to be flying in this death torpedo that was clearly about to crash and kill them all. And to top it all off he was on his way to Florida, in the middle of July. For some reason. He didn’t know how today could get any worse. 

And then, as if on clockwork, his mind went there. How could today get any worse? Well, his worst fear could come true. It could turn out that Frankie was bringing him back to Florida to break up with him. So that Zach would be there, with his family, so they could support him and Frankie could fly back to wherever and leave Zach were he ultimately always thought he would end up, in the end. Alone in Florida. And with that thought, what was left of his mood crashed into the land below, just about where this plane was probably going to crash any second now. 

Frankie’s hand on his hand did help to calm him down a little, and he wasn’t ashamed that he may have squeezed that hand very tightly during some of the worst bits, but after about half an hour the pilot came on the speaker to tell them they were out of the worst of it and it looked like it would be mostly smooth sailing from here to Miami. The seatbelt light dinged off a moment later, but Frankie seemed to know enough not to push Zach to going back and finishing what they started earlier. 

For the rest of the flight, Zach’s mind wandered. He leaned his head against the side of the window and stared off into the blue sky, watching the tops of the clouds go by below them. He knew he had to find some way to be cheerful again, but it was proving difficult. He didn’t want his fear to become a self fulfilling prophesy, him pushing away Frankie by being needy and worried. And for some reason, Frankie seemed to be really focused on this trip, it was all he talked or thought about, it seemed. Zach needed to find a way to snap out of this funk, he had to. He was determined to suck it up and have fun, for Frankie. But… Later. After the flight. Because right now, he had about 45 minutes left of sulking. And Zach was so horny, adrenaline ravaged, confused, and frustrated that he knew it would probably take that much time or more before he could find that happy place and start to enjoy things again.

 

 

As they stood in the aisle, waiting for the doors to open so they could depart, Frankie kept the smile plastered on his face and one eye on Zach the whole time. He was still in his mood, Frankie could tell, though he could also tell that he was trying to act happier. Probably, for Frankie, and the thought filled him with warmth. Frankie hoped if he kept the smile on his face and his tone light and positive, that he could pull Zach out of his funk. He was counting on it, because his Florida plans began now.

In the aisles ahead of them, people were filtering out of their seats and retrieving their carry-ons. Zach already had both his and Frankies, and Frankie had his hands on Zach’s shoulders, gently rubbing the tense muscles there. “Thank God that’s over.” He said, and Frankie smiled.

“We made it!” He said, smiling wider.

“Yeah, we made it to Florida. Yay.” Zach said sarcastically, though he seemed to realize he was trying to be happy a second later because he made an apologetic look. 

“You’ll have fun, I promise.” Frankie said, running his hands down from Zach’s shoulders, encircling his waist and hugging him from behind. Zach leaned back into the hug and sighed.

“I know, I’m sorry. It was just a stressful flight. I’m excited, I really am.” He said, and Frankie smiled against his strong shoulders.

“You know, even from back here I can tell when you’re lying. But you’re trying, and that’s all I could ask for. Thank you baby.” Frankie said and they stood there in much more amiable silence for another few minutes. Ahead of them, a woman had been working to put all of her assorted baby items away in her carry-on, and she was harnessing the baby into her carrier. They had heard the baby only a couple times throughout the flight, but so far hadn’t seen it.

Now, the lady was holding the carrier beside her as the doors were opened and the baby was facing Zach and Frankie, her precious chubby face smiling up at them. She had whispy red curls and bright blue eyes and Frankie was waving at her, making silly faces, as he felt Zach sag into him making an ‘awwwwwww’ sound. Then Zach was twisting to face Frankie and wrap his arms around him, putting his face into the crook of Frankie’s shoulder. He was being oddly emotional, but Frankie chalked it up to an unfinished blowjob followed by a near-death experience. The turbulence HAD been bad, even for such an experienced flyer like Frankie. 

“Awww Franklin, I want one.” Zach said into the skin at the base of his neck, pulling back with wide puppy dog eyes, turning to look again at the baby and then back at Frankie. Frankie smiled and chuckled a little in response.

“Aww Zach, I do too, but we’re not even married yet. You’re seriously already thinking about kids?” He asked, trying to convey a slight undercurrent of humour. Zach just kept surprising him, these days. First he’s obsessed with marriage and now he’s already talking about kids? Couldn’t he just give Frankie like, two weeks, so he could give him the proposal of a lifetime, and THEN they can get married and have a hundred babies, or whatever he wanted? “Besides,” He added, “I already have one big kid to take care of.” He said, raising an eyebrow at Zach, who tilted his head and made his mouth into a line.

“Ha, ha. Very funny. Well, when that day comes, just know I’m going to be the greatest dad there ever was. Well, next to you of course. But when we have kids, I want to give them everything, and support them so much and make sure they’re not afraid to be exactly who they are. Pretending to be someone you’re not is exhausting.” He said, and Frankie softened a little. He knew exactly what Zach was talking about. Frankie had suspected that part of the reason Zach hated Florida so much was because he associated it with some bad times in his life, and he thought maybe some of the emotionality he was having now may have to do with feeling of his past being brought closer to the surface. 

Zach had had some rough years through puberty and onwards, and he had told Frankie about some issues with his parents (mostly his dad) and other people in general, as he struggled through his teenage years with ADHD and his confusing self identity, though he never went into much detail. Frankie had a few theories about some of what he had gone through, but he never pushed Zach to go into further detail. What Frankie did know was that despite all his bluster and big attitude, Zach was fragile and very hard on himself, and that had come from somewhere. He wrapped his arms around Zach and laid a soft kiss on his cheek, leaning in. 

“There is no doubt in my mind that you will be the world’s best daddy. You already are… Daddy.” He said the last word in his Marilyn voice, adding an exaggerated wink, and pinching Zach’s ass a little causing him to jump and giggle. They were attracting stares, but Frankie couldn’t care less. 

“Oh come on, I think we both know who the real Daddy is in this relationship, and it’s not me.” Zach said, confidence and good humour back in his voice, and he winked back at Frankie causing him to laugh. By this point the line was moving, so Frankie leaned in and whispered in Zach’s ear.

“You’re right, so be a good boy and carry Daddy’s bag and let’s get out of here.” He said, causing Zach to smirk and they both made their way off the plane.

 

 

“There, I see them!” Zach said, pointing to the matching pink suitcases that were slowly making their way down the baggage carrousel. There was no mistaking those bags, which was one of the happy side effects of having neon pink as your signature colour. Zach pulled the first bag off and then grunted as he pulled the second one. As he put it on the ground, he noticed that there was something off about it. The weight was distributed weirdly. He and Frankie found a bench nearby so he could check it out. 

Sitting down, Zach realized that the lock had been cut and his zipper was slightly open. “What the hell?” he asked, unzipping it a little more and seeing the mess inside. Sitting on top was a little letter that Frankie quickly grabbed and opened.

“Dear valued customer,” Frankie began reading, for some reason choosing a British accent. Zach smiled and motioned for him to continue. “Here at John F. Kennedy International Airport we take our security very seriously. We were notified that there was an incident during your security check regarding a certain liquid exceeding authorized limits and thus qualifying as a banned substance.” Frankie paused to smirk before waggling his eyebrows at Zach, and Zach felt his cheeks heat up.

“Oh my God, so fucking embarrassing. And YOUR FAULT!” Zach said, pointing at Frankie, then they both laughed a bit and Zach said “Okay, continue.”

“As a result, we have followed standard protocol which states that all other luggage by said passenger must be checked thoroughly. We have the right to search any suspicious bag within reason. Next time you fly with us, please make sure you follow all the code of conduct rules so you do not cause a disturbance. Have a great time at your chosen destination and thank you for flying with us. Please fly again.” Frankie finished and then raised his eyes to look at Zach, who was pissed off, but in a way that he had to admit he found funny. 

“Are you fucking kidding me? We tried to bring lube on the plane, not a pound of cocaine!” Zach said loudly, causing a passing couple to give them a funny look. Frankie snorted a laugh, then stood up and held out his hand to pull Zach to his feet.

“Okay, come on my little national security threat, we have to get going.” He said, tugging on Zach’s hand as Zach tried to free the handle so he could wheel the suitcase towards the exit. He could feel the humidity climbing already, every step they took closer to the thick Florida air. He sucked in a deep breath and steadied himself for whatever was to come. Because things were not exactly getting off on the best foot.

 

 

Frankie was willing his follicles to tighten up, to suck back up the sweat that was now dripping from his temples. Even he had to admit that it was hot as balls out, the humidity was practically 100, and it was threatening to downpour any minute. Zach was looking smug, though, so Frankie didn’t want to admit how goddamn hot he was. Luckily it wasn’t long before they were done at the rental car place and they were heading down the highway with the air conditioning cranked up. It started raining a few minutes after they hit the road and Frankie wished the weather would cut him some slack. I mean, he had to move mountains to get Zach here, now he wanted him to have the best time of his life and Mother Nature was just going to have to do her part. He hoped that the storm might blow away the humidity and bring some cooler temperatures, but he’d have to make due with whatever happened. 

As they drove, they listened to top 40 radio and sang along to their favourite songs, and he could see Zach calm down, little by little. Singing always helped. Frankie knew that things were truly bad when Zach stopped singing to his favourite songs on the radio. If he wasn’t singing, something was wrong. A singing Zach was a happy Zach, so for the moment, Frankie felt some relief for the first time in hours. But not total relief, because Frankie was waiting impatiently for a text from his mom to tell him everything was on track for their arrival. 

Frankie would have to tell Zach any minute now about how he “accidentally” forgot to book a hotel room, so they would have to stay at the Grande mansion for a night before they could check in tomorrow. The plan was to kick off the proposal trip with a big family dinner. He had been scheming with his mom about it for days, and she had had the wonderful idea to invite the Rances, who had been told to keep it a secret from Zach, though they didn’t know that this was in preparation for the upcoming engagement. 

Frankie wanted tonight to be perfect and fun, and get the whole family together and make it impossible for Zach to have a bad time. Then, tomorrow, they would check into the presidential suite at the Waldorf Astoria Resort in Boca Raton. It was lavish, and Frankie couldn’t wait to surprise Zach. Finally, after what felt like forever, he felt his phone buzz, and he handed it to Zach to read to him. “It’s from Joan.” Zach said. “Landed safe?” Frankie knew that was her code for ‘everything is good’ so he breathed a sigh of relief. They’d worked that out the day before. Zach smiled at the phone. “Awww, should I tell her yes?”

Frankie smiled over at him briefly before looking back at the road. “Of course, you should tell her the lube story, too. She’ll die.” He said, smirking and snuck another peek to see the horrified look on Zach’s face.

“Not happening!” He said, but he was typing something back. Frankie took a deep breath, it was time to hone his acting skills, he needed Zach to believe this, he didn’t want him starting the trip off suspicious already. 

“Hey, babe, why does the car radio say it’s the 20th?” He asked, trying to sound curious and worried. Zach looked up at him from his phone. 

“Ummm, because it is?” Zach said, confused.

“No, Monday the 19th.” Frankie said, trying to sound sure of the answer but also suddenly doubtful, like he wanted to be right.

“No, Monday the 20th.” Zach responded, looking at Frankie like he was crazy.

“Noooo… because.” Then he paused to pretend to be counting in his head. “Shit! But I thought, shit!” Frankie said, and he put a pained look on his face and bit his lip. Then he snuck a “worried” look at Zach who was looking amused.

“Are you serious, babe? You’re usually on the ball and I’m the one who doesn’t know what day of the week it is. This is awesome, I love being right. Which I am, by the way. Here, see?” Zach said, holding up his phone so he could see the date. 

“Well, then I may have screwed up on the check in date at the hotel…” Frankie said nervously. 

“We’ll just check in a day early.” Zach said, unphased.

“Not this room, there’s no way it’s available…” Frankie said, giving Zach another nervous look. 

“Why?” Zach asked curiously, then he seemed to catch on. “Wait, Frankiiiieeee, what room did you book?” He said, excited and smiling widely.

“It’s a secret! But we can’t check in until tomorrow, so do you want to text my mom and see if we can stay there tonight?” Frankie suggested, trying to make it sound spur of the moment.

“A little Grande mansion action? Sounds like fun! Just like old times. And it’s been forever since we did it in your old room.” He said, smirking at Frankie and leaning to run his hand up his leg seductively. 

“You don’t mind staying with my family tonight instead of the hotel?” Frankie asked and Zach blew it off with a big ‘pssshhhhhttttt’ noise.

“You know they’re going to be my family too, soon.” He said it without filter, Frankie knew, and he went beet red immediately afterwards, realizing what he said. Frankie freaked for a moment that maybe Zach knew about the proposal. But no, he was pretty sure he knew Zach enough to know this was him just being focused on getting married, like he had been for a while now already. “I mean, like you know, at some point.” He added, trying to cover up his error. Then he turned back to Frankie with a worried look on his face. “It is going to be at some point, right?”

Frankie couldn’t help the soft smile that pulled from him, and the tug at his heart, he felt badly he couldn’t tell him right then and there. But so incredibly soon, Zach would get the memorable proposal of his dreams and he’d just have to suffer a little while longer. “Yes, Rose. Of course we’re going to get married eventually.” He had to give him at least that. He didn’t want to be too cruel in his deception. The look of relief on Zach’s face was obvious as he exhaled and leaned back in his seat. Then he smiled. 

“I’m totally going to call Joan Mom. Think she’ll like that?” Zach asked, and beautiful rose tinted visions of family trips and dinners with Zach calling his Mommy ‘Mom’ ran through Frankie’s mind. It was all so perfect. He wanted to cry the thought filled him with such joy, but Frankie had to keep it together. If he started bawling at every little romantic and lovely thing, then Zach would for sure know that something was up. So instead, he went to his go-to deflection: humour.

“Well she probably won’t want to be called ‘Mom-in-law’, so, yes, Rose.” He smirked, and he caught Zach roll his eyes before he chuckled a little. But he left it there. And for that, Frankie was glad, because he didn’t want to test his acting skills any further right now. Especially now that he was getting emotional and sentimental over Zach and their love. 

 

 

The good news was that the rain had passed and brought with it a significant temperature drop and reduction of humidity. The sky was blue and it couldn’t be more beautiful. The bad news was that there was an accident somewhere ahead on the freeway and they’d been stuck for almost two hours. Zach was starting to get the feeling that he was right about this trip being bad news. But the weather had turned, so maybe their luck would, too. He was actually feeling inclined to be in a great mood, despite the situation. Figuring that hey, he was already in Florida so why not make the most of it, he decided to pull out his phone and fire up a ZRL. It had been a while since he’d done one, and he’d been meaning to do another one with Frankie soon, and what else were they going to do? Traffic was currently at a standstill. 

Frankie was all for it, they’d done several together in the past. The first time, Zach had been so nervous, but now that they were so comfortable together, and very out and very public, he was free. He didn’t care what anyone thought, had accepted and embraced the haters, and more than anything, he was proud to be with Frankie and loved showing him off. For obvious reasons. 

The ZRL was fun and a great way to pass the time. They sang along to the radio, worked out a couple silly dances to some of the pop songs that were currently getting a lot of air time, and even made out a little. Zach loved the provocative thrill that gave him. He had always been an instigator. Now that he was proudly in a same sex relationship and very open about that, he embraced it, and almost loved putting it out there to see if people would make him defend it. Because Zach loved to argue, that was for sure. And he was 100% positive he had nothing to apologize for, he was doing nothing wrong, so just let somebody tell him that he was and he’d unleash Zachattack. That was always cathartic. 

At some point somebody suggested he and Frankie play the newlywed game and Zach thought it sounded like a great idea. “Oh my God Frankie should we do this game? Whatever I’m not even gonna ask, we’re doing it. I’m going to ask you these questions and you answer. Ok, first question: ‘Who proposed marriage first?’” Zach asked, putting on a terrible game show host voice. He laughed at the question, considering their current situation, but he wasn’t going to make it weird. Luckily, Frankie played right along. 

“It was definitely Zach.” Frankie deadpanned, not missing a beat. “He just couldn’t wait any longer.” Zach giggled.

“Yeah, it was definitely me. I’m not even gonna lie. Okay, moving right along.” He added, back in his game show voice. “What is your spouse’s most used swear word?” Zach asked, then turned to Frankie for his answer. 

“Zach loves to say the word ‘fuck’ in any shape or form.” Frankie answered without hesitation. Zach laughed.

“I do say that a lot. Hey Frankie, I fucking love you, by the way.” Zach answered and Frankie blew him a kiss, which Zach pretended to eat (an old joke). Turning back to the questions, Zach blushed a little but read the one that caught his eye anyway. “Oh shit, I’m scared for this one. ‘What is your spouse’s most irritating habit?’” he asked. This time, Frankie didn’t answer right away, which made Zach feel good. He seemed to be searching for something he found annoying.

“Ummmmm, I guess I don’t like when Zach talks about his looks in a negative way. Whether it’s his hair or his body. I think he looks amazing just the way he is. I have the sexiest boyfriend, and I love every part of him.” Frankie said, smiling at Zach, and for once, Zach felt he had no response for a second. “And as cut as his body is now, I actually miss his little tummy.” Frankie added, pouting, and Zach barked a laugh. Then Frankie leaned over to peck Zach quickly on the lips. 

“Okay, I know you hate when I say I’m ugly and shit like that. But like, babe, would you look at my hair right now?” Zach whined, and put a pained look on his face as he tried to play with his hair in the phone’s screen. He could see Frankie roll his eyes in the reflection. 

“Well I love every hair on that that perfect little head of yours. You’re so sexy.” Frankie said, and then he leaned over to run his fingers through Zach’s hair to mess it up. Zach groaned in response, but he wasn’t annoyed. He did that all day on his own, anyways. 

“Ohhhhkay, Frank, we all know you’re hotter than me and way out of my league, but thank you.” He said, leaning over to kiss Frankie briefly. 

“My turn, I want to read one.” Frankie said, then, taking the phone, scanning the text. Then his eyes lit up mischievously. “Got it, okay. ‘Other than their name, what nickname do you most often refer to your spouse by?” Frankie asked, his eyes sparkling and a knowing smirk on his face. Zach could feel his own face heat up and he rolled his eyes dramatically and then squinted them accusingly at Frankie.

“Frankiiiiiieeee, you did that on purpose! Did they even write that question?” Zach asked, trying to steal the phone from his hand.

“Yes! And it doesn’t matter, I already asked. What do you call me, most often?” Frankie asked again, smugly. Zach was pouting, trying to hold back his smile.

“Babe?” Zach asked, rather than said, because it was a cop-out and he was being obstinate. 

“That doesn’t count! Everyone uses babe. Come on, what do you call me? Tell the lovely people, it’s probably no surprise.” Frankie smirked. Traffic was inching forward, but up ahead it looked like it was clearing up. 

“Babe staaahhhpppp!” Zach giggled. Then, noticing the traffic moving, he added, “Traffic’s moving. Eyes on the road… Daddy.” He added the end bit and broke out in giggles, and he saw Frankie’s face look triumphant and very pleased. Zach hoped that would earn him some bonus points later tonight. 

“Ding ding ding!” Frankie said happily. “We win! What did we win?” He sang, and Zach smirked. 

“We won an open road. We’re finally moving! Now onto the Grande’s, I’m ready to relax!” Zach said, then added “Alright, Zacharoos, this is Zankie signing off for now! Go write some fanfic, Frankie and I need a new bedtime story.” And with that, he ended the broadcast and they were finally moving. Zach cranked the music and they sang all the way to the long driveway of the Grande mansion.

 

 

When Frankie finally pulled up the long driveway the sun was still up, but it felt like it shouldn’t be, because he was pretty sure he had been driving for, like, 20 hours. He was so ready to get out of travel mode and into proposal mode. He also couldn’t wait to get inside, because he knew the house was full of people they loved. Joan had planned everything, and even made sure that Nonna could be there. Nonna was the only person Frankie let her tell, and Nonna had called him immediately to both congratulate him and curse him because she found out that Ariana knew before her. He had to beg her forgiveness while blaming the whole thing on his Mom, but by then end of the call they were both in tears they were so happy.

As Frankie put the car into park, Zach looked up and noticed all the other cars parked there. “Hey, is that my mom’s Tucson?” He asked, his face scrunched up quizzically, like it didn’t make sense.

“Sure looks like it.” Frankie tried to respond like he, too, was confused. 

“That is, I see the scratch I put on the front bumper. What are they doing here? Frankie did you know they were coming?” He asked insistently. He wasn’t mad, but he was very thrown off. Frankie stuck out his bottom lip and raised his eyebrows, shrugging.

“Maybe when we told Mommy we were coming she invited them over?” Frankie suggested.

“That seems unlikely.” Zach responded skeptically.

“They talk a lot, you know. They’re Facebook friends.” Frankie added, to which Zach snorted.

“Facebook.” He said, laughing, like it was as outrageous as saying they were MySpace friends. But he was moving, getting out of the car and he seemed to have accepted that Joan may have invited them, he didn’t seem suspicious of Frankie having planned it, at least. Now, he was smiling widely. “You think my broski is here, too?” Zach wondered, and Frankie smiled.

“Maybe, let’s go see!” Frankie said brightly, skipping off to the grand front door happily. So far, so good. 

 

 

Zach and Frankie let themselves into the front door quietly. They kicked off their shoes and left their bags in the front hall and followed the voices around the large double stairway and towards the back of the house, the big living/dining room area. They heard Ariana and Peyton first, it sounded like they were playing a game. When Zach and Frankie made it around the corner, they saw a large group on the couches facing the tv, they had the Wii-U set up and they were playing MarioKart. They stood there quietly, watching them play, waiting to see when they’d be noticed.

“Ready to get beat by a girl, PeyPey?” Ariana joked, elbowing the gangly pubescent mess that must be Zach’s brother. He must have shot up another 4 inches since the last time he saw him. 

“Yeah right, you can try!” Peyton laughed back, as they waited for the next track to load. 

“You know my girl plays this all the time on tour, better watch out.” Sean said from down the line and Peyton laughed. 

“You’re forgetting he’s a 13 year old boy, I bet they’re pretty evenly matched.” Jill added in good humour, but Zach chuckled because he knew his mom had always been competitive. She’d probably even love to see Peyton win at a video game. All in good fun, of course. 

Zach and Frankie went unnoticed for the duration of the match, which Peyton managed to win with an arguably cheap blue shell right as Ariana would have crossed the finish line. She was jumping up and down as she thought she would win, but then she got hit and Peyton just cruised on by her. He tossed his controller down on the couch, jumped up and started a funny victory dance.

“That wasn’t fair!” Ariana pouted, and Sean was still racing, crossing the finish line a moment later. Peyton was laughing hysterically.

“Sorry, what was that Smellyana? And Big Stink?” Peyton asked, putting his hand to his ear and leaning towards them. Ariana laughed and shoved Peyton. 

“Smellyana? That’s not even clever!” Ari laughed. 

“You know what I am, though? A winner.” Peyton replied, full of confidence. Zach felt his heart swell, watching the two of them. Peyton reminded himself so much of him when he was younger, though Peyton was even more confident in himself than Zach was, largely because Zach had been building up that confidence for years, letting Peyton know he’s the shit at every opportunity. 

“Think we have enough time for a rematch before they get here? They’re taking FOREVER.” Ari asked, and Peyton couldn’t seem to help himself, they were in a really jostly-teasy kind of mood.

“Are they really taking a long time? Thanks for the info, ArianDUH!” Peyton said, catching an admonishing ‘peyton!’ from his Dad, but Ariana was smiling widely through her exaggerated shocked expression. 

“Okay, at least ArianDUH is more clever than Smellyana, I’ll take it.” She said, and as she reached out to ruffle Peyton’s messy hair, she caught sight of Zach and Frankie out of the corner of her eye. “ZANKIE!!!” She called out, causing both of them to laugh, and the family to cheer. She loved referring to them as their ‘ship’ name even after all this time. It was cute. 

They all said their hellos and the hugs and greetings and apologies for their lateness took the better part of 10 minutes, there were so many people there to meet them. Before long, Joan was urging them all into the dining area, she had everything on the lowest burner, they were so late due to traffic, that dinner was ready as soon as they got there. Zach was relieved for this, because he was starving. And what better thing for Italian and Jewish families to do together than eat a home cooked meal?

Sitting around the table several minutes later, the conversation flowed effortlessly. Everyone had something big happening that they told the group about. Peyton especially had some big news, as he had made it to what amounted to the Master’s tournament for junior golfers and he’d be competing next month. “He got it all from me.” Zach bragged to the table. Peyton laughed.

“You wish! You’ve been riding my coattails for years.” Peyton replied, getting smiles from the table, and an outraged expression from Zach. He was exaggerating, of course, his favourite thing to do. 

“The only reason you have those coattails is because I gave you my hand me downs, LITTLE bro.”

“You’re just jealous.” Peyton jabbed, and Zach made his outraged expression even more exaggerated. 

“Jealous!? Me? Don’t forget, my little broski, I can still beat you up, I’m still bigger than you.”

“Are you though, Zach? Because when you guys hugged hello, I’m pretty sure he had you beat by an inch or two.” Ariana interjected, causing laughs around the table. Zach adamantly denied this, though he refused to stand up to measure back to back because he was secretly sure they were right. When the hell did his brother get so big?

“They sound like Frankie and Ariana.” Nonna said, smiling with bright eyes, getting a nod of agreement from Joan. 

“Except I am and always will be taller at least.” Frankie added, sneaking a peek at Zach and giving him a big wink.

“I’m taller, I don’t care what you guys are saying.” Zach sulked, but he was just playing it up. He was actually having the most wonderful time. He didn’t know how much he’d missed everyone until they were sitting around a table in the same room as him. He didn’t suddenly care that he was in Florida, he was just happy to be there.

Towards the end of the main course, Ariana and Sean were explaining the story of their reunion to Jill, how the Honeymoon Tour had FINALLY ended (it ended up continuing for over 14 months) and she had attended a party and Sean was there, and they had been inseparable ever since. Then conversation strayed to the topic of their fragrance launch, and Zach realized that had only been yesterday that they had all been together after the red carpet. It seemed like days ago, but no, it was only yesterday. 

“Wait, weren’t you guys supposed to be doing press and promotions for the next few days? How come you guys are here?” Zach asked, confused.

“We wouldn’t miss it!” Ariana said quickly, though her eyes widened for some reason and shot to Frankie. 

“Wouldn’t miss what? Florida in July? We didn’t even know we’d be here until we realized we booked the hotel wrong.” Zach said, trying to recall everything that had happened recently. 

“Yeah, Ari.” Frankie said, and was his tone tense? “What wouldn’t you miss?” He asked, pointedly.

“Oh, uh, just, like, the chance to see the family, and I knew you guys were coming down. We had 2 days before our next appearance so we thought we’d come down. I asked mom to invite the Rances, I missed Peyton and the dogs.” Ariana answered breezily, checking out her nails as she did. Next to Zach, he saw Peyton smile.

“You missed me more than the dogs?” Peyton asked, and Ariana laughed.

“Well not since you hit me with that blue shell. We need to rematch later. You guys are staying over, right?” Ariana asked Jill and Kevin, who were visibly having a good time, though hadn’t been overly talkative. Jill nodded.

“The neighbours are going to walk and feed Bella, we’re planning on leaving in the morning.”

“Perfect!” Joan added, smiling widely and standing up. “Now I need some strapping young people to help clear the table so I can bring in desert. There was a bustle of activity as everyone rushed to help, and Zach loaded his arms and headed towards the large kitchen to help clean up. 

 

 

As everyone moved to clear the dining room, Frankie sat back in his chair a little, exhaling deeply. That had been a close one. Ariana had almost blown everything. That was why he had tried to keep his engagement plans from her, as much as he would have loved to plan alongside her the whole way. She just could never seem to keep her mouth shut, though in her defense she usually didn’t mean to. As if on cue, Ariana leaned over towards Frankie when it was just the two of them and Nonna left at the table. “Sorry! I just keep forgetting he doesn’t know already. I mean it is so obvious you’re planning to propose, everyone must know.” She said, a little too loudly. Luckily the only person within earshot was his mom, returning with a large cake in her arms. 

“You don’t think he knows, do you?” Frankie asked nervously.

“I think the dogs know, I’m sure the Rances know, the neighbours probably know, but I don’t think he knows.” Ariana assured him, putting her hand on his arm. 

“It’s because he’s too insecure to believe it, I feel so bad. I’ve had to shoot down the idea of getting married too many times to keep it a secret, it’s a real sore spot for him.” Frankie responded a little sadly.

“Awww, well he is going to be so happy when he finally finds out, it’ll be worth it. He’ll agree, it was worth the wait, once he sees what you have planned.” 

“I hope so.” Frankie replied, smiling a little.

“I still can’t believe he doesn’t know!” Ariana said too loudly. And just as Frankie registered the volume of her voice, his eyes widened in horror as he saw Zach walking back into the room. He grabbed the last few dishes from the table as everyone returned from the kitchen. He smiled and looked at them curiously. 

“You can’t believe who doesn’t know what?” He asked, curious and innocent. Frankie panicked, but luckily despite being a bad secret keeper, Ariana was a very good actor. Liar. Whatever you wanted to call it. 

“Scott doesn’t know Caitlyn is hooking up with Jake.” She breezed, and Frankie wanted to drop his knees and fan her with palm fronds, he was so in awe of her. 

“Oh my God, RIGHT!? But he’s HoH so there’s no way they’re going to tell him or they’re going on the block for sure. FOR SURE.” Zach agreed, obviously clueless to what they’d been discussing. He was laughing as he returned with the dishes towards the kitchen. At that same moment, Kevin returned to the room and Frankie realized how much time had passed already. He needed to bite the bullet and get this over with. He was so nervous and excited about everything about this proposal, but one thing had to come first, before all that. 

Knowing this may be his only opportunity, Frankie caught Kevin’s eye and motioned for him to follow him outside. They both quietly made their way to the veranda out back, the sky just on the dark side of dusk. The air had cooled significantly and it was beautiful, but Frankie couldn’t focus on any of that. His mind was and had been focused on this one moment ever since they arrived. 

Frankie had asked his mom to invite the Rances to dinner specifically for this one reason: he was going to ask Kevin for his son’s hand in marriage. And Frankie was terrified. He hadn’t wanted to do it on the phone before, thinking it was tacky, but now he was regretting his decision to do it in person because his stomach was in knots and Kevin’s stern demeanor was a little intimidating. 

They leaned against the railing together, side by side, and Frankie tried to work his way into it. “It’s such a nice night out, I hope the weather sticks around for the rest of our trip…” He started lamely, and Kevin nodded his head.

“You guys must have brought it with you, because just yesterday it was 10—“ But Frankie couldn’t talk about the weather, he just couldn’t. So he cut him off.

“To be honest I really didn’t come out here to talk about the weather with you.” He said quickly, and Kevin laughed.

“You didn’t?” He asked sarcastically, reminding Frankie of Zach. It warmed his heart a little. 

“I actually have something very important to ask you.” Frankie said nervously.

“I was wondering if you were going to ask.” Kevin said, smiling, and Frankie was stopped in his tracks. What?

“I, uh, okay, what? I was going to ask you—“

“The answer’s yes.” 

“But how did you know what—“ 

“You’re not exactly the CIA, this was a pretty overt operation. This is obviously a pre-engagement party. Are you sure you want to marry Zach, considering he doesn’t seem to have a clue? I think he’s got more pairs of shoes than brain cells.” Kevin joked, and Frankie felt both elated and crestfallen, he had had this whole speech planned out. Kevin, though, seemed to see that he had ruined the surprise, so he added. “Sorry, did I ruin that? Here, ask me again.” He stood up straight, and turned to face Frankie. Frankie smiled and blushed.

“Well I did have kind of a whole speech planned, and lots of arguments in case you said no…” Frankie said, and Kevin laughed. 

“Say no? To the best thing that’s ever happened to my son?” He asked incredulously, but the earnestness of his voice and his eagerness to embrace Frankie as a son-in-law brought a sob and a laugh out of Frankie’s chest. He was such a ball of emotions lately, and a lot had been riding on this conversation in his mind. He knew that this was 2016 and he didn’t need anyone’s permission to get married… but he wanted it. He felt the tears stinging his eyes and he fanned them trying to keep them dry.

“Oh my god, you’re going to make me cry before I even ask!” Frankie said, and looking at Kevin he realized he was looking a little misty as well. “I’m just going to ask before we both start to bawl, I think red puffy eyes will be a little suspicious.” Frankie said trying to compose himself. Then, squaring himself and facing Kevin, he took a deep breath. 

“Okay, here it goes. Kevin, I hope you know how much I love your son. He makes me happier than anyone else I’ve ever met. He’s the other piece to my soul that I didn’t know I was missing until we found each other. He’s there for me whenever I need him and I promise to always be there to catch him if he falls. I want nothing more than to take care of your son forever, and I’d be honoured to be a part of your family, and for you to become part of mine.” Frankie paused to wipe a tear, and Kevin did the same. Here it went. “Kevin Rance, it would mean the world to me to have your blessing before I ask your son for his hand in marriage.” And he paused, as they both smiled and tried to keep their eyes dry. “…so what do you think?” He followed up, just to be sure. Kevin laughed and sniffed at the same time.

“I don’t think so…” He said, but he was joking because he was pulling Frankie tight into a hug and squeezing as he said “Of course, Frankie. I’m so glad Zach found his one true love. And someone to take care of him, because lord knows Jill and I were done years ago. Good luck with that!” He said, and they both chuckled. “But honestly, Frankie, we couldn’t be happier. We know there was some friction between us back at the start, but we know that Zach didn’t fall in love with your gender, he fell in love with YOU. And so have we, and our hearts are lighter for it. Or at least, that’s what Jill was saying earlier, she’s better with words. But we had been discussing the possibility of your engagement earlier, and we both agreed we couldn’t be happier to have you join our family. So yes, the answer is yes.”

 

When Frankie returned to the dining room, everyone was sitting back down as Joan was preparing to cut slices of cake, and he saw Zach looking around wondering where Frankie was. Then he saw him coming back from the other room, his Dad behind him, and he looked suspicious. Frankie was instantly wishing he had gotten through that speech without crying, because he knew this could give away the whole proposal right here. I mean, really, at this point, how could Zach not know?

“Smoking weed without me?” Zach asked, narrowing his eyes and sniffing Frankie as he sat back down. Frankie snorted a laugh in response. Oh, Rose.

“I’m pretty sure if we were smoking we’d have come and got you, or else I’d have heard you whine all night.” Frankie breezed, getting some laughs from the table. Jill narrowed her eyes, however.

“Zachary, exnay on the eedway when your otherbra is at the abletay?” She said sternly though obviously she wasn’t mad, and Zach rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m sure he has no idea what you’re talking about, mom, and he has no idea that I smoke weed from time to time. It’s legal in, like, 12 states now, Florida’s next, I know it.” Zach responded, unphased. Then he turned back to Frankie. 

“What were you and my dad doing then?” He asked suspiciously.

“He’s never been here before, but your mother has, so I was just showing him the property.”

“And why are your eyes red?” Zach pressed on. Shit. Frankie was running out of lies.

“I had the citronella can turned around backwards when I sprayed it.” Kevin responded from across the table and Frankie felt his chest sag with relief. Zach nodded and seemed to accept the answer. The moment passed and soon all attention was on the passing of pieces of cake.

The rest of the evening passed with fun and good times had by all. They played some games, told stories, a lot of alcohol was consumed, and they all laughed until it was late and Nonna decided she would turn in. Everyone decided to say good night at that time, and to go off to their bedrooms in the different corners of the mansion at that point, getting ready for bed. Zach and Frankie retrieved their suitcases from the front hall and made their way to the guest wing near the pool. It was a beautiful room with a walk out to the hot tub and pool, and a wonderful view of the sky and the golf course down the road. 

 

 

When they finally got to their room, Zach flopped onto the bed fully clothed, exhaling a huge sigh and Frankie watched while smiling fondly. “God what a fucking day.” Zach said, and Frankie had to agree. Today had probably been the single most exhausting day he’d had in ages. But also wonderful. “How amazing was it that your mom called my parents? I thought we were just going to have a lowkey night here before starting our vacation tomorrow, but I’d say it already started.” He seemed genuinely happy, and that made Frankie so relieved, he felt lighter than air. Things were going perfectly. 

“It was absolutely perfect. One big family.” Frankie agreed and Zach smiled, he was closing his eyes. 

“Almost perfect.” Zach corrected him, groaning as he sat up a little, leaning back on his elbows. He was obviously tired. It had been a long day. He was smirking, so Frankie quirked an eyebrow in question. “You may recall I was left hanging earlier on the plane. At this point I’d say my balls have gone past blue to purple.” He whined, causing Frankie to laugh affectionately. 

“My poor baby. I can help you with that. Actually, I’ve got an idea.” Frankie said, his eye cast through the glass doors to the pool in the backyard. Zach looked intrigued.

“Oh yeah?” 

“Care for a dip in the hot tub?” Zach’s eyes lit up at the question. 

“Oh my God, yes, that sounds amazing.” Zach said, rising off the bed and heading towards his suitcase. He stumbled a little, being a bit tipsy but not wasted.

“Hold on, baby, I have a better idea.” Frankie said, pulling Zach into his arms and kissing him. Zach was stiff for half a second before melting into Frankie, his body leaning forward, trying to connect the most possible square inches of their body in every way he could. After a moment, Frankie smiled and took a step back and started pulling the clothes off of Zach. It didn’t take long, he was dressed for the Florida heat. In no time he was naked and Frankie was wrapping him in a fuzzy white bathrobe from the guest closet. He quickly stripped and grabbed the second robe. 

Zach was smiling goofily, obviously understanding, before giggling like a kid. Frankie loved Zach at this level of intoxication. Cute, playful, silly, but not sloppy. His laughter was infectious and soon Frankie was joining in and they were both walking towards the hot tub. Zach started giggling again as he had to de-robe before getting into the water. They managed to get in unseen (not that Frankie was all that worried about being seen) and soon they were both moaning in pleasure as the warm water soothed their tired muscles.

“This is perfect.” Zach said, his eyes shut and his head back. He had sat down right next to Frankie, his left leg draped over Frankie’s right, his hand covered Frankie’s, his thumb working back and forth soothingly. 

“Mmmhmmm.” Frankie agreed. He was looking up at the stars. They were beautiful, the night was clear and dark. 

“You know, in all my years of living in Florida, I’ve never actually been skinny dipping.” Zach said and chuckled a little, and Frankie turned to look at him, an exaggerated shocked look on his face?

“This is your skinny dipping virginity? I’ll have to make it a good one.” Frankie said, waggling his eyebrows and trailing his hand up to find Zach’s already erect penis. Interesting. So many possibilities. Frankie smiled widely at Zach who looked like he may have blushed. Frankie leaned forward to kiss him, he couldn’t resist. “I wish I could say this was my first time, but you know, back in my Pine Crest days we used to get pretty wil—“ But Zach interrupted him with a big splash of water.

“Frankiiiieeee!” Zach laughed, jabbing his elbow into Frankie and lingering the touch, like he always did when Frankie made him laugh. 

“What? I’m kidding! …kind of.” Frankie responded and gave a sassy shrug and a wink and Zach responded with a bit of a surprised look on his face. 

“Damn, maybe I really don’t know what Pine Crest kids are like.” He said, and Frankie laughed and splashed him back. Then he climbed on top of Zach, straddling him and feeling their erections rub against each other. 

“I’ll show you what Pine Crest kids are like.” Frankie said in a mock-threatening tone, and captured Zach’s mouth with his own. Zach moaned into the kiss and for a few minutes of bliss they sat under the stars in the warm water, listening to the crickets chirp, worshipping each other’s bodies and mouths. 

It was absolute heaven. That was, until a minute later they heard a voice. “Hey guys!” It was like the water had suddenly turned from hot to coold. Peyton. He was dropping a towel next to the hot tub and climbing in, sitting across from the two of them, completely oblivious. Frankie was thankful there was no light on the water, and that the jets were on full, covering the surface with bubbles and foam.

Frankie and Zach shot apart quicker than a gunshot, and Frankie turned to see an almost comical look of horror on Zach’s face. Frankie lowered his face into the water because he felt like he was going to break out laughing, it was so uncomfortable. “Peyton, what the fuck are you doing in here?” Zach asked, maybe a little too harshly. But then again, Frankie couldn’t really blame him. He had been interrupted twice today before, well, completion. He must be so frustrated. Poor baby.

“What?” Peyton asked.

“You shouldn’t be here. You should be in bed, somewhere else, ANYWHERE ELSE BUT HERE.” Zach said in utter frustration, and Peyton widened his mouth, his teeth showing, as if it say ‘rude!’. And Peyton being Peyton, he stayed right where he was. Frankie tried not to laugh and pawed at Zach below the water, but he tightly gripped Frankie’s wrist and forcefully pushed it away, giving Frankie a glare. 

“What’s the big deal? I’ve seen you guys kiss before, and I’m sure Joan said everyone can use the hot tub. I missed you guys, can’t you wait fifteen minutes before you go back to making out?” Peyton responded reasonably, and Frankie saw a wisp of steam float by. He didn’t know if it was from the hot tub, of Zach’s ears. 

“I missed you too, bro, and of course you can use the hot tub. Later. I promise Frankie and I will hang out with you this week, I can’t wait, it’s so awesome seeing you. But right now, I’m going to need you to get the fuck out of this tub, go inside, and maybe bleach out your eyeballs and your memory a little bit.” Zach said menacingly calm, sounding like he was on the verge of a mini breakdown. Peyton looked confused, but he was at least rising and climbing onto the deck.

“Well I love you too, brother.” Peyton said accusingly, but Frankie thought he heard good humour there. “I guess I”ll go see what Ariana and Sean are doing in the living room. Maybe THEY will appreciate my company.” 

“Good luck with that.” Zach said dismissively and Peyton turned and left, leaving wet foot prints behind him, wrapping his towel around his dripping bathing suit. When he was around the corner, Zach let out a huge groan and dunked his head under the water. When he came back up he exhaled deeply before jokingly whining. “Florida.” Was all he said before reaching out for Frankie and pulling him on top of him. “I don’t know how many more interruptions I can take. Where were we?” He asked and Frankie leaned down from his position on top and forcefully kissed Zach, trying to bring his mind back to a happy place.

“I think we were right about here.” Frankie said, smiling and biting Zach’s lip, reaching down between them and grabbing his cock. 

“Oh my God, Frankie, all I want to do is come, and sleep.” Zach moaned, leaning his head back.

“Then let me see if I can help you with that first part.” Frankie replied softly, running kisses up Zach’s neck toward his earlobe, which he nibbled, Zach leaning to give him more access. 

They kissed for a few minutes, upping the intensity from teasing to heavy petting as they went along, and Frankie knew that Zach was already close after a day of being worked up with no release. And one more time, because all good things happened in threes, they were interrupted with a pointed cough and clearing of a throat. It was Ariana. If Frankie wanted to scream in frustration, he could only imagine how Zach felt. 

This time, Frankie stayed where he was, he just looked up at her. “We’re busy.” He said simply, dipping back down to kiss him. But then she cleared her throat again, and Zach turned so he could look at her too.

“Hey Frankie, could I talk to you for a second?” She asked sweetly. Too sweetly. She was trolling, Frankie knew it.

“No, I’m busy.” Frankie repeated, narrowing his eyes at her. 

“It’ll only take a second. Peyton told me you guys were out here, and I remembered I really needed to tell you something. So just, climb out of the hot tub, come over here and I’ll tell you.” She responded, and Frankie realized his sister knew him way too well. 

“No, I’m good here. You can tell me from there.” Frankie said, cautiously.

“What’s the big deal, just get out of the water for one second, don’t you want to know my big secret?”

“I’m comfortable, I don’t want to get out.” Frankie breezed, but Ariana was like a dog with a bone. She grabbed the two robes that were lying on the deck. 

“Then I guess you guys won’t be needing these? I’ll just hang them up inside.” She taunted. She wanted him to admit it, she was like a little, mischievous pixie, and as annoying as she was Frankie still found it cute. 

“Ari we both know I’m not getting out of this water right now, so shut up, you win.” Frankie said, trying to hold back his smile so he could look annoyed. The look of triumph on Ariana’s face was hilarious.

“I knew it! You pervs!” She said affectionately. “Peyton said you kicked him out of the hot tub and I knew, I had to come tease you.” 

“Ari, I love you.” Zach said, and Frankie saw his face was totally serious, he almost laughed. “But I’m going to tell you the same thing I just told my brother. Get the fuck out. We’re busy.” Ariana burst out laughing as she stepped forward to put the robes back on the ground next to the hot tub. 

“Okay, okay. Geez, Zach. You sound tense. Frankie maybe you should help him with that, yeesh what a grump.” And that was it, Frankie was laughing, and the comical look of consternation on Zach’s face just made him laugh even more. Soon Ariana was gone and they were back to privacy, and Frankie was trying to recover from his giggle attack. Zach had been pouting the whole time, obviously holding back a smile.

Frankie climbed back on top of Zach as his laughter was subsiding, and he was slightly out of breath as he stared Zach in the eye, willing that smile to break free. Frankie’s smile went from wide to radiant when he saw Zach’s teeth break free and he leaned in to kiss him roughly. He intended not to be interrupted, and to ease Zach’s tensions immediately. But before that, he couldn’t help himself. He pulled back and laughed before shaking his head. “Florida.” He said simply, eyes wide, and Zach barked a laugh before leaning in and pulling Frankie tight against his body. 

“Florida.” He agreed. And that was the end of the words. Soon all the sounds to be heard was the rustle of the palm leaves in the breeze, the chirping of the crickets, the jets in the hot tub, and Zach’s poorly contained moaning as he finally found release with Frankie’s expert help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments, I'd love to hear what you thought! This one took a long time to write, I'd love to see if you liked it!

**Author's Note:**

> Want more? We hope so! Thanks for reading and let us know what you thought :)


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